It's been far too long...

It has been months and months since i posted here. The main reason behind this is that i've been stumbling towards the finish line of my degree. I'm now done. What a hero, eh? A separate reason is that i tried to do a post about Cursive a few weeks ago and it wouldn't let me so i became hugely disillusioned. Anyway, i'm back now...ish. I'm still pretty lazy.

Here's a small pick of where i've been heading over the past few months -

Umek - a techno producer who's been around for as long as time, apparently, but i only came across recently. His productions are crisp and his direction is lovely. His work seems to be techno in the variety of Popof - kind of rumbling, with 'pops' all over the show, but the tracks are more solid than some of Popof's work and seem to offer more variation. Check out 'You might hear nothing' for a prime example. In the mean while, here's....

NOTHING - my internet is ridiculously slow and does not like uploading songs of Umek's quality. Don't complain, i've given you the tip, go out and buy his stuff.

Das Glow seems to have gotten unrivalled praise for his re-do of The Faint's 'Mirror Error'. I, personally, don't think it's that great. Yeh, it's different and a bit trippy, but it's nothing to write home about. I'm not saying the Boys Noize edit of it is much better, but i think he gives it a slightly darker, more purposeful touch.

The Faint - Mirror Error (Das Glow Remix - Boys Noize edit)

Sorry that post wasn't all you've ever dreamed of. I'm now writing reviews for Data Transmission - ch ch ch ch ch ch check it out.

Spanish Breakfast

The last couple of weeks I have been downloading a lot of artist albums and full mixes as opposed to single releases and e.p.s. Through this I have stumbled across a few absolutely golden albums -

Osborne's self-titled release on Spectral Sound, which spans from high-tempo acid to spacey disco, certainly lives up to the standard set out on previous releases from the label.

Bavarian Gigolo, DJ Hell's album "Teufelswerk" is nothing short of brilliant, one of my favourite albums so far this year (I won't talk at length about this here, but expect a posting dedicated to Hell in the near future).

Not that long ago I downloaded a track, "Bora", by an artist called Rone. A progressive melodic minimal track with French spoken-word over the top, it transports you (as stupid as it sounds) into a field in the baking sun, the same sort of feeling I got when I first heard "Beautiful Life" by Gui Boratto a couple of years ago. Special.

After doing a bit of research on the artist and finding out that the Parisian Erwan Castex has support from major players like Sasha and Agoria, it was no surprise that the album was of the same high quality as the stand-out track, "Bora".

Go out and buy this album. It's perfect for the summer. Here's "Bora feat. Alain Damasio".

Lovely.

Rone - Bora feat. Alain Damasio

Haus Haus Haus

Due to the terrible weather in Spain at the moment I sat myself down and recorded a new mix!

Full of Housey goodness!

 La Mezcla - Michael Cleis 

 Miranda - Gel Abril

 Ear to Mouth - Hennon

 Snice - Ray Okpara

 Internal Call - Pablo Bolivar

 Disco BZRK - Kabale und Liebe

 Outbreak - DJ T.

 Natty Dread - Williams

 Love Machine - Anton Pieete

 Chunky Buddha - Oscar G.

 Yogoto - Spencer Parker

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WM8JFUON

Enjoy!

Warehouse.

Erol, Simian Mobile Disco, Surkin, Digitalism, Metro Area, and Yuksek all played at the Warehouse Project last Sunday and I was there to watch.

Highlights of the night included, but were not limited to...

-Surkin playing the Laidback Luke remix of White Knight Two

-Yuksek playing his remix of Ugodzilla

-Simian opening with Animal Collective - My Girls

-Surkin and Yukseks' silhouetted hairstyles

-Jupiter Room's lovely tech-house

-Erol opening with new Boys Noize and ending with Bathroom Gurgle

-Digitalism being the most physically mis-matched DJ pair around

The new Boys Noize is pretty cool. Enjoy the vocoding lyrics, but it may get old. Worked well as an opener.

New Boys Noize at SXSW

The Animal Collective track, surprisingly, was a beautiful, very atmospheric opener and sounded balearic on the underground car-park's soundsystem. Simian's mixing and track selection throughout was brilliant.

Animal Collective - My Girls

Also, kudos to my good friend, who goes by the name of Delcourt, who will be periodically updating this blog with his own, invasive take on music. He'll be dealing with things more tech-y and what not. Ciao.

x

DJ T.

Thomas Koch ... a bit of an institution; with releases on Poker Flat, Get Physical and it's sister label Kindisch (one of my favourite labels at the moment) he seems to me to be going from strength to strength. Oh and did I mention he co-founded Get Physical?!

His tracks merge between tech-house and minimal and have an understated charm, but still manage to get stuck in your head.

The first track I came across a while ago was his collaboration with Thomas Schumacher on the Get Physical compilation GPM100. "May Contain Nuts" is so very simple....it needed a few listens before I got it. It's perfect mid-set material to bounce to! 

His latest release on Kindisch, "Booty Call", is a slow-rising track with a drop that sounds just like something from my old Master System. The Daniel Melhart remix is noteworthy as it brings a bit more life into the tune, utilising the synth breakdown from the start. I would highly recommend purchasing this ep. 

His new release on Poker Flat, "After Dark" is also a stormer. Personally I prefer the b-side...a bit more club-friendly....go and buy it!

Here's the original mix of Booty Call in glorious 320 kbps....play it loud.

DJ T. - Booty Call 

Dusty Kid

Sorry i've been away for a bit. Had an interview for a journalism course/loads of work etc... I got the course though which i'm pretty chuffed about. Anyway...Dusty Kid.






I just got hold of his new album A Raver's Diary. It's glorious techno gold. Really enjoy it. Dusty Kid made it big with his track The Cat. I can't believe there is anyone out there who hasn't heard that infectious track. If you heard that track you may be surprised by Dusty Kid's other stuff which is much darker tech-house. Not as many acid licks as you'd think, considering The Cat and The Riot.



These two tracks are similar in their pounding base- something that he's good at, but not neccessarily what he's best at. Lynchesque is the first single off the new album, whereas the Moby remix is an oldie. Absolutely belting, you have to love the slightly spooky vocals as well - "How could you lie?"

Dusty Kid - Lynchesque (Original Mix)

Moby - Disco Lies (Dusty Kid's The Fear Remix)

Dusty Kid is playing at Wax:on's new sister project, Magicbag, in Leeds on 6th June. Post-exam fun...i think so. Oh, and go buy the album - out in a week or so.

Modeselektor + Apparat = Moderat

Modeselektor has been kicking around since 1996 making very distinctive tech-house music. His versatility is what impresses, with music and remixes drawing on genres from hip-hop to electro and Russian folk. Apparat has been around just as long, playing solo and in a band. Slightly less well known but produces just as good techno-y goodness. It's not your average techno, it's much more atmospheric and melodic - see 'Arcadia'.



Anywho, they have come together on their second collaborative project since 2003 - Moderat.

The album's called Moderat. It's hot. It retains the atmospheric...err...ness. You can easily hear the Modeselktor in it, he takes care of the foreground, and Apparat deals with the background. I'm not sure how many of the tracks could work in a club but they still great tracks. More importantly, do not neglect their solo work. I should delve into Apparat more but Modeselektor are tried and tested.

There's a remix for the Bjork song for boys as well; just as good. I could only find a few tracks by Apparat, so instead here's a surprisingly subtle, lesser-known Crookers remix.

Moderat - No. 22

Bjork - Dull Flame of Desire (Modeselektor's Remix for Girls)

+

Mike Snow - Animal (Crookers Remix)

Go buy it...