Monday, April 27, 2009
Double Dutch
In case today's image is looking a little familiar to some of you it's because it's been on the front pages of Little White Earbuds for a couple of weeks as they used it for one of their podcasts. The image is of Louis Guilliaume and it was upon seeing that he'd done a podcast for LWE that reminded me I'd been meaning to post about him for some time.I came to hear of Guilliaume a few months back whilst slowly working my way through a pile of mp3s a friend gave me. The tracks had been sat on my player and after having listened to a bunch of new but not particularly spectacular stuff, my ears suddenly pricked up as they were subjected to some of the most powerful, innovative and generally in your face techno I'd heard in a good while. Sure enough, the tracks in question turned out to be by Louis Guillaume, a name I'd not heard of previously and in trawling the web on an information gathering exercise for this post, it seems that Louis has only a few releases under his belt and that other than the contents of his own myspace, there's not really too much info (or indeed photos) about the man out there.
I'll avoid regurgitating the info on his myspace save to say that Louis is from Holland and cites a wide list of musical influences. Many of these tastes can be heard on his aforementioned podcast which takes in sounds from disco's yesteryear alongside more contemporary techno and house cuts. I was actually quite surprised when I heard the mix as it's quite far removed from his own productions which don't so much introduce themselves to the uninitiated as scream their presence at you.
The cuts below are taken one apiece from two EPs he had out last year and if the labelling on the tracks I was given by a friend are anything to go by it looks like he has a bunch of new stuff in the pipeline.
Louis Guillaume - Fucked Up // SD Records
Louis Guillaume - For Ever // SD Records
Buy Louis Guilliaume releases at Juno or Zero "
Monday, April 13, 2009
Great Expectations
The wait is nearly over! The debut album by Dutch producer Martijn Deykers is finally here. Martyn was both myself and RAW's favourite producer of 2008, releasing a string of stunning 12"s and remixes which blurred the lines of Dubstep, Techno, 2-step and Drum 'n' Bass and which has seen him elevated to the top echalons of the Dubstep/Techno scene.To say that this release is eagerly anticipated is somewhat of an understatement but from what I have heard so far it looks like the hype has been justified and Martyn has produced an album which fits perfectly into the new 'Dubtec' sound but has a much broader appeal and encompasses more genres than one would expect. Martyn describes his sound thus: "I think what makes music interesting is when an artist incorporates his/her influences and translates it into a unique sounding style," he explains. "Although it might sound a tad arrogant, I'd like to think of my music as 'Martyn music.' I try not to think of it as dubstep or techno, or house or drum & bass—it's not about genres, it's about music. This way I feel more freedom to make the music I want to make."
Great Lengths is out on 3024 on April 20th. Buy
1. The Only Choice
2. krdl-t-grv
3. right?star!
4. Seventy Four
5. Little Things
6. Vancouver
7. These Words (Ft. dBridge)
8. Bridge
9. Elden St.
10. Far Away
11. Hear Me
12. Is This Insanity? (Ft. Spaceape)
13. Brilliant Orange
14. Natural Selection
Labels: 3024, Dubstep, Dubtec, Martyn
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Critical Mass
Last Thursday I had the pleasure of witnessing A Critical Mass, the brand new live show put together by Innervisions crew, Ame, Henrik Schwarz and Dixon. Secret Sundaze promotors Giles Smith and James Priestley had brought them over as part of their showcase promoting "The Grandfather Paradox", a new mix that covers the story of minimalist music from past present and future. "The Grandfather Paradox", after all, is the idea that a time traveler who goes back in time to kill his own grandfather couldn't logically do so, because without the grandfather there is no time traveler.
The show itself as you would expect was superb with the group mixing up all their individual hits into one complete whole and providing the sort of uplifting atmosphere which is lacking in todays po-faced minimal House and Techno scenes.Another reason for me to check out this trio was upon hearing a brilliant remix by Henrik Schwarz of the seventies Funk and Soul singer Bill Withers. 'Who Is He' has been transformed by Schwarz into an amazingly funky minimal house number with Bill Withers' smooth vocal stylings telling tales of a jealous lover suspecting infidelity. This a great example of when a remix is done properly then the original is elevated to something stunning. Aparently though Bill does not approve of this new interpretation of his work and this amazing track may not ever see a proper release.
Bill Withers - Who Is He (Henrik Schwarz Remix) // Unreleased
The Grandfather Paradox is out now. Buy
Labels: Ame, Bill Withers, Dixon, Henrik Schwarz, Secretsundaze
Friday, April 10, 2009
Where Does Time Go?
I can barely believe it's Easter already and as the days keep passing by I seem to be increasingly short of spare time with which to do anything worthwhile.Even at the start of the longest public holiday of the year, I'm in a rush as I'm about to go and visit relatives but I figured in sharing a couple of quick nuggets before I set off.
First up is something for the old school crew or in fact anyone who loves a bit of 303 action. Syntheme's 'Lasers n Shit' has been out a little while now and while it doesn't deliver anything massively groundbreaking, I don't think that's the intention as it clearly looks back on the early days of the Acid House era with misty eyes. What the LP does provide is an interesting and nostalgic retrospective of an era that was so important to electronic music's history yet whose sounds are seldom heard today.
Sytntheme - FabaceaeCPea // Planet Mu buy
Next is a 4 hour Sandwell District set I picked up from the excellent mnml ssgs. It was recorded in February this year and features Regis & Function laying down some seriously good tracks for what must have been one hell of a night. The mix is split into two parts and the second is probably my favourite as it takes 20 minutes or so for part one to get going and also moves into (comparatively) housey territory at one stage but once you reach the 90 minute mark it's pure techno heaven from then on in.
Sandwell District @ Planet Rose (14/02/09) - Part 1 / Part 2
Lastly, and somewhat strangely given the comment I've just made about house music, is something much softer than my usual bag. It is however the kind of track that perfectly fits early morning sunrises and as spring is now upon us and I'm sure a good few people are going to be up until the early hours over the next few days it seems a good time to share it.
Timmy Thomas - Why Can't We Live Together (Luke Solomon's Re-edimix)
Labels: Function, Luke Solomun, Regis, Sandwell District, Syntheme, Timmy Thomas
