Belated 2019 Spotify Selctions

I've been putting this off for a while, and there's not really a good way to say it. Simply put: I beefed it majorly when it came to the monthly playlists, I chalk it up to having a pretty crazy winter period and some familial turbulence in the past month or so along with other naff life elements. Regardless, I wanted to break away from that and so we won't dwell and will instead talk about the tunes I have lined up again.



Now I think about it, I was a little worried about using potential tracks that I would've included on the podcast but I'm trying not to fret too much this year. And with that in mind I made some lovely downtempo / trip hop (and all the other umbrella terms) selections for you. In stark contrast to me agonising over the stuff to include in last week's podcast I threw this list together shockingly quickly. Not to say it's sloppily done mind, I even had to cut some here and there for flow reasons. There may be some repeats from last year's playlists in here but there's far too many of them to check (and to be fair all of them on here have earned their place.) Let's jump in.

We open with the gorgeously dreamy and subtly bossa nova-y sounds of Delarosa And Asora. I was turned onto this LP fro Miss Kittin's Radio Caroline compilation and this tune has been waiting for its time to shine. It opens my Yellow playlist, firmly planting the whole sound of it from the get go. A word of warning to those who check out the LP proper; it isn't all in this style and is much more IDM in parts, still worth a look if you're into the same stuff as me tho.

The next one comes with a bit of a tale, this is the first submission I've received from Reddit of all places. Not complaining like, I'm just used to tweets and DMs at this point. Saying that, while I don't have my Reddit listed on here but I'm sure you can guess the username. Anyway, I've publicly mentioned several times my love of all things Adult Swim form way back when: their use of Warp's stuff for one, their support of indie musicians second and of course their overall aesthetic third. I've also lamented that for better or worse, the scene that popped up around it with all kindsa folk making fan-made bumps and sometimes questionable beats has been and gone. Well, that's not entirely true, I had also stopped looking because of the sheer volume of them, and as it turns out there are some folk out there keeping that flame lit as evidenced by what landed in my inbox. Voker's Is This Lo-Fi Or Chillhop to be exact, kicking off with a sample of the famously dodgy voice acting from Sonic Adventure which is a bold choice. Perhaps a little on-the-nose with the title and all but I think we're all at least a little guilty of that.

After that it's a tour of all things that scratch my itch in that vein, from the big hitters MF Doom and Nujabes down to the more obscure, like my favourite cut from DJ Mehdi's debut album The Story Of Espion, a beautiful piece that makes me wish he were still around to bless us with more tunes, and oddly enough a track from the Bojack Horseman original soundtrack too. So I hope to be back on track from here on out, I hope that this makes up for me missing January and I'll see you all next month with more!
-CVF

Ilictronix Podcast: Movin' House

"It's a non V-Day special with some house tracks that Claude and Adam both love."

This week's podcast is live! It's a decidedly different selection from me this week, much to Adam's surprise (and delight), I lean in real heavy on the house stuff. And not just the French stuff you've come to expect from us at the 'tronix. I kick things off with the absolutely sublime When I Fall In Love from A:xus vinyl crackle and all. I did almost swap it out for the Stryke's Blue Vocal Techsture" mix which truth be told is my favourite version of it. After that it's a whirlwind tour of similar territory, starting with out and out legends Frankie Knuckles and Mr. Fingers back to back, taking a bit of a left turn with an instrumental from Golden Boy (minus Miss Kittin) before bringing it back to home plate with a primo piece of electronic goodness from Galaxy 2 Galaxy, with their trademark Jazzy Techno sound.

Adam totally took a leaf out of my book for his choices this week, which I knew he would when he saw my selections. As such I must apologise for any excessive garage vibes that may occur. Joking aside, once again I appreciate Adam's contributions to the 'cast, because my selections pretty much used up my entire supply of that breed of house, (it's a genre that is woefully underrepresented in my collection for a variety of reasons) and Adam provides me with essentially of shopping list of artists and EPs to look at, pick up or otherwise add to my rotations. Full tracklist below as per usual!

Tracklist:
Intro:
A:xus - When I Fall In Love (Album Mix)

Claude’s picks:
Frankie Knuckles - I'll Take You There (Director's Cut Classic Signature Mix)
Mr. Fingers - Ammnesia
Marshall Jefferson Vs. Noosa Heads - Mushrooms (Salt City Orchestra Out There Mix)
Golden Boy - It’s Good For You To Meet People Like Us
Galaxy 2 Galaxy - Hi-Tech Jazz


Adam’s Picks
Forgemasters - Track With No Name
K Alexi Shelby - Vertigo
Housey Doingz - Gobstopper
Kamar - I Need You (Peggy Gou Remix)
Robert Hood - Detroit: One Circle

Outro:
Criminal Minds - Baptized By Dub

Ilictronix Podcast: Down With The Sickness

"Claude explores the genres and artists he has mentioned in passing during previous episodes. Adam is sick and shares a bedridden playlist."

We can't catch a break these past couple weeks, between weather delays and various inconveniences last week we had our fair share. This week has it's own flavour though, as Adam is besotted with some kind of dreaded lurgy. Still it served as good inspiration for his selections this week, opening with the incredible vintage Clark with Slow Spines from Empty The Bones Of You. We soon hit my patch tho, which this week is loosley themed around artists I've mentioned in passing or have otherwise overlooked in the past episodes.

Peaches to start with, I was originally going to say in the episode that I didn't think she'd done anything since but a quick look at discogs quickly proved that wrong (though it kept I Feel Cream's reputation as the 'cleanest' Peaches album though. Still goes hard even coming up on 10 years later. Rex The Dog also makes his first appearance, I sum up my thoughts on the album pretty succinctly in the episode, but the short of it is that it's a quality bit of house that suffers (only slightly) from being cut down slightly from the OG versions of the tracks. Ladytron also appear, think it's their first time too which is surprising for how much I like them. My pick for this week comes from their later works, but I touch on their history while discussing. Adam also drops some extra knowledge about one of their albums that I didn't know.

Rounding out with Modeselektor (who I think I have mentioned before, but again not this album). Miss Kittin also makes her first solo appearance too, which would have been really fitting had I chosen something from her first album I Com but I went with the second Batbox instead. Most of what I said for I Com applies to this album too, they're full of gorgeous breakdowns and of course Kittin's trademark vocals.

Adam's selections for this week are the most eclectic they've been so far, which is only fitting given his predicament. I must say they at least flow together very very well, which is something I always try to implement in mine. Saying that they are also essentially the sequel to his scrapped super depressing winter selections from last week which would have been nice to hear, if a little bleak back-to-back, it's nice to hear something other than garge piano stabs for a change too (I joke, I joke). I owe Adam thanks anyway for soldiering on despite being gravely ill, and for getting the episode edited and uploaded on time to boot! Tracks and a singular show note after the linebreak:

Tracklist:
Intro:
Chris Clark - Slow Spines

Claude’s picks:
Peaches - I Feel Cream
Rex The Dog - Bubblicious
Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch
Modeselektor - (I Can't Sleep) Without Music
Miss Kittin - Play Me A Tape


Adam’s Picks
Kemikal - Graffiti
James Blake - Overgrown
Galcher Lustwerk - Idhouse
Total Art Of Percussion - Wuhan Wuchang
Juan Atkins - Riod

Outro:
Ellen Allien & Apparat - Way Out


SHOW NOTES:
Adam linked me to his little slice of childhood fever-dream trauma (that made him become one with electronic music) turns out it was a clip from Superman III of all things, so now both you and I are clearer on what exactly he was on about.

And with that, we'll see y'all next week, where we'll be bringing you more selections, same time same channel!

-Claude Van Foxbat

Ilictronix Podcast: The Cold Snap

"In this episode: Claude gives us his comfy and cozy playlist. Adam picks his tracks to keep him busy during the arctic blast in Chicago.

Apologies for the slight delay on this one, I personally have had a hell of a week for a variety of reasons but that pales in comparison to what Adam has had 'round his neck of the woods. As I'm sure you're all aware there's been a hell of a weather thing going on in that part of the USA. This post ideally should have gone up sooner too but the timezones meant it went up at 2AM my time so again apologies.

Anyway, with the weather in mind, I break tradition from my usual cold playlist choices again and dive into things a little bit more sweet; kickning off with the deliciously smooth ComfyCozy from Luke Vibert before taking a trip to the (fairly limited) J-Pop portion of my collection. We continue the trend with an injection of cute courtesy of the A Hat In Time soundtrack (which as I mention in the episode was one of the choices I cut from last week's videogame-centric choices) before rounding things up with the usual suspects of Röyksopp for that early 00's downtempo goodness, Squarpusher for some light jazz (and not some Drill 'N Bass like you'd expect) and finally going full jazz by way of Mr. Scruff. As mentioned at the top of the ep, I hope that these selections have warmed you in these trying times, or at least provided you some new listenings.

Adam reworked his tracklist last minute and I don't hold it against him. Those of you that were around for our 'Gloomy Sunday' posts way back when will know that when me and Adam explore the more depressing side of our collections we can go in HARD, and given Adam's current predicament it would make sense but hot damn if his swapped out ones don't work just as well for the opposite reasons. It's as you might have come to expect from him a lovely cross section of what makes him tick: a wide selection of Garage and fantastically smooth house both new and old. I think it almost qualifies as another digital crate digging installment (only with mostly real vinyls this time) and really what better way to pass the time on a wintery day than go browsing through your records eh? As per usual, full tracklist and notes below:

Tracklist:
Intro:
Luke Vibert - ComfyCozy

Claude’s picks:
Aimer - Cold Sun (Ryo Nagano Remix)
Pascal Michael Stiefel - Scootin’ Through Clocktowers Beneath The Sea
Röyksopp - Boys
Squarepusher - Iambic 9 Poetry
Mr. Scruff - Night Time


Adam’s Picks
DJ Rou- Dante Says Truth
Scott Garcia - A London Thing

Dem 2 - Destiny

Ian Pooley - Relations
Toolate Groove - Track M

Outro:
Lone - Blue Moon Tree


See y'all next week, where we'll be bringing you more selections and we'll hopefully be on time to boot!

-Claude Van Foxbat