The ill-ec-tro-nic

Better Late Than Never

2012-01-16T20:16:00.008Z

OK, so the fact that we officially closed this blog in 2010 serves as some excuse for not dropping by here to give an update on things sooner but this post is a little overdue so as I'm here now, I'll cover off a couple of bits at once.

As mentioned previously, my main musical focus after quitting blogging was always intended to be making music of my own and last year finally saw the official release of some my music - hoorah! My debut EP, Beyond The Green Wall, came out as a digital release on Broken20 at the end of November and is available to buy via Boomkat and direct from the labe l. The EP contains two tracks from me plus two remixes from Broken20 label boss TVO and another from Spatial. It picked up nice reviews from Boomkat, who also put it on their 'recommendations list, and Bleep 43. Getting such nice comments from both of these camps made me really happy as I hold both organisations in high regard and have long used their views as a staring point for hunting out music to buy myself.

The EP proper also came with a great little bonus release; four additional remixes - one from me plus fellow Broken20 label mates Erstlaub, Production Unit and Kwaidan. The companion release is FREE and you can pick up a copy here.

So that's the main news from me on my Nanorhythm front - I started a new Nanorhythm blog over on wordpress so you can keep up with my production adventures there.

As it's the start of the year, I figured on also throwing my hat into the ring for a 'best of 2011' roundup. Characteristically, I'm somewhat late off the mark with this as people seem to be putting lists up earlier each year - some even starting as early as November which seems rather strange to me but there you have it.

For various reasons, I didn't really buy that many 12s last year but the pick of my rather limited crop was: a smattering of Sandwell District EPs, the awesome Black Dog 'Liber Chaos' remix package, the first part of the Drexciya reissues on clone, a couple of nice things Burial was involved with ('Street Halo' and the collaboration with Four Tet & Thom Yorke), Tropic of Cancer's 'The Sorrow of Two Blooms' plus a great Digital Mystikz remix of Lee Scratch Perry's 'Like The Way You Should'.

Album-wise my favourite was probably Zomby's 'Dedication' - it has loads of great moments that really do it for me although it's definitely something to be listened to in its original context as many of the tracks are ridiculously short and the album feels like a mix in parts with tracks effortlessly flowing between one another. On the dancefloor front, Byteone's 'Symeta', Omar S' 'It Can Be Done But Only I Can Do It' plus Sandwell District's 'Feed Forward' (which actually came out very late in 2010) were all brilliant. Lucy's Wordplay For Working Bees' has some great moments and save for the guitar intro (sorry boss) I really like TVO's 'Amid the Blaze of Noon'. Kangding Ray's 'OR' is a sonic delight and finally Tropic of Cancer's 'The End Of All Things' is also very enjoyable, albeit that it doesn't really have any particular standout moment for me, unlike the awesome 'A Colour' from their Blackest Ever Black single that I mentioned earlier.

Anyhow, that's my brief roundup - no links I'm afraid as getting bogged down with such tedious admin was one of the reasons why we got bored of this blog in the first place. If you're interested enough, a quick google will soon help you track the releases down.

Bye for now and I'll hopefully be back later in the year with some more Nanorhythm news. Until then you can always drop by Cafe1001 on the second Thursday of each month to catch Langer, myself and a bunch of our mates dropping some of our favourite tunes as per the flyer Langer posted up previously.

Cafe 1001 Residency

2011-12-08T16:56:00.001Z

Nanorhythm Podcast

2011-04-14T06:13:00.001Z

Another installment in my irregular updates and it's good news on the Nanorhythm front again.
This time, my alter ego has taken to the decks and knocked out a mix / podcast for his new home, Broken20.

Clocking in at around 70 minutes, Bunker Funk dishes up a helping of stripped down warehouse-friendly techno, featuring cuts from some of my favourite dancefloor-focused producers and a cheeky little number, hot from my own basement studio.

Head on over to Broken 20 to check it out for yourself.

Tracklist:
1. Nanorhythm - Micron [unreleased]
2. Marco Fuerstenberg - BBT (edit) [a.r.t.less]
3. Unknown Artist - FB06 - B [frozen border]
4. EQD - EQD004 - A [equalized]
5. Kevin Gorman - Shakey Metallic Beats [mikrowave]
6. Pattern Repeat - Ofetriade (Ben Klock Remix) [echocord colour]
7. Martyn - Seventy Four (Redshape Remix) [3024]
8. Redshape - Blood Into Dust [styrax leaves]
9. Conforce - Stop Hold [meanwhile]
10. N/A - Variance (Function Edit) [sandwell district]
11. O/V/R - Interior [blueprint]
12. Robert Hood - Museum [m-plant]
13. James Ruskin - Graphic [ostgut ton]
14. Mark Broom & James Ruskin - Hostage [blueprint]
15. Silent Servant - Untitled (Regis Edit) [sandwell district]

Things are shaping up nicely on the release front too, with my debut EP, 'Beyond the Green Wall', scheduled to drop around June / July time, featuring two cuts of my own plus remixes from TVO and Spatial. You can check out Spatial's remix as the opener on his recent mix for Hyponik. Keep your eyes on the wider Broken20 schedule too as there's some killer releases on the way in the shape of superb dubby techno from Isodyne (Forward Strategy Group) and utterly immersive ambient drone from Erstlaub which is about to drop and available at a ludicrously cheap price from Boomkat.

Broken Memories

2010-10-18T19:48:00.016Z

Hello again!

OK, so three months on from our 'final' post, things have been going pretty much as planned on the musical front with me having actually finished some new tracks and got round to sending some demos out. The vinyl release that I'm hankering after still eludes me but my release debut is looking ever more likely on the Broken20 digital imprint I mentioned previously.

You'll have to wait a little while until you can spend your hard-earned on some Nanorhythm product (I'm currently pencilled in for Broken20 release #4) but today sees the the first release on Broken 20 hit the shops so I figured it was worth me dusting off my blogging hat for the occasion.

Release number one comes from label boss The Village Orchestra / TVO and despite the quality of the goods on offer, I'll avoid a lengthy dissection and upbeat appraisal of the content as it would be hard for me to write a fully balanced review when I clearly have a vested interest in the label doing well so I'll resort to my tried and trusted method of getting the message across by providing some sound files instead - check it out here.

The label pivots around a concept rather than a specific sound or genre with the focus being on music "concerned with decay, erosion, entropy, mistakes and errors, line noise and tape hiss, hum and buzz." The five tracks on offer for the inaugural release help to showcase the way in which the label's aesthetic manifests itself in its varying roster with the first track actually being an hour long recording of a live performance from earlier this year and is a meandering sonic experiment which slowly evolves through drone and ambient territory with the interspersion of spoken word, choral excerpts and all manner of distorted effects before introducing rhythmic elements towards the end of the arrangement. These rhythmic elements hints at what is to come with the four shorter tracks on offer here which themselves showcase the label's alter ego where the textures are woven around a more DJ oriented track structure.

The release is scheduled to come out on limited DVD-R later in the year where visuals from the live performance will also be included but for now you'll have to make do with the mp3s which can be purchased from digital stores such as Boomkat.

In addition to the 'paying' releases, Broken20 also has a Podcast series, now in it's it's sixth installment, as well as the free 'BrokenZero' series which re-releases selected cuts from the label artist's archives.

Calling Time

2010-07-20T20:06:00.013Z

As mentioned in my last post, changes are afoot at the ill-ec-tro-nic and the news is that Langer and I have decided to close the blog down.

Over the four and a bit years we’ve been running the site, we’ve enjoyed ourselves immensely and while we never really had a goal for the blog, its primary aim in providing us with a vehicle with which we could share our music tastes with a wider audience has been well and truly met and in fact had we been pushed to baseline our expectations at the start we would certainly have exceeded them as we never expected to achieve the hit rates we did or be sent so much great music (we also got sent an unbelievably large pile of dross too though!).

The most frequent comment we’ve received has been a 'thank you' for unveiling a new artist, track or label to someone and we can honestly say we’ve had great pleasure in helping to expose people to the music that we’re so passionate about. We’ve never seen ourselves as anything special for writing about and posting such music and in essence, the blog has only ever been an extension of the enthusiasm we show each other and our circle of friends when we find something exciting and new and share it with them.

So, given that electronic music is very much alive and well, why the decision to close the blog down? No single reason really, although running out of relevant and interesting things to say, a general lack of time and the fact that doing posts with any kind of worthwhile regularity became almost like a chore that felt like it needed to be done rather than something that we looked forward to like at the start - clearly not a good situation for bloggers to be in!

From a personal perspective, I also want to focus on producing music under my Nanorhythm guise as the blog has undoubtedly resulted in a reduction in my studio time over the years. Despite being given offers of releases on two occasions, both offers have failed to materialise thus far, although at the time of writing, there’s also possibility that some of my music may finally get a release as part of the forthcoming Broken20 schedule (a new label headed up by TVO so no doubt an interesting project to keep an eye on regardless). However, given my previous experiences with anticipated releases and the fact that it’s very early days for the label, I’m trying not to raise my expectations too high and will believe my release cherry has been popped if / when it finally happens.

Anyhow, enough of my ramblings, other than to say it’s definitely been a blast and to give a big shout out to all the artists that inspired us to write about them, the kind folks that have sent (decent) music our way plus of course the people who have bothered to read our pages over the years.

As I write this, I'm not sure whether it will be the very final post for the site or not. Langer has suggested he may write a few words at some stage or it may be that we use the site to let you know of any parties or other relevant musical adventures we’re involved with so maybe pop back every now and then for a quick check.

So before I go, it seems appropriate to leave you with just "one more tune!" - one of my all time favourite records and something that seems fitting for the occasion.

Underground Resistance - Journey of the Dragons // Underground Resistance

Tidying Up

2010-06-11T00:36:00.004Z

Bit of a whirlwind tour of a few bits and pieces today ahead of a change to be announced in our next post.

First up is The Black Dog who've had two really tasty things out recently in the form of the excellent Music For Real Airports long player as well as a package of remixes from their last LP, Further Vexations. Both are out on Soma and despite my initial scepticism about what an airport-themed concept album might sound like, I'm glad to say my fears about MFRA were unfounded and this is full of warmth, depth and imagination and in fact not actually that much in the way of obvious airport-related sounds. With the exception of Silicone Soul, who deliver yet another track that adds weight to my earlier dismissal of them as one hit wonders, the other three artists (Claro Intelecto, Redshape & Octogen) on The Vexing Remixes do an excellent job, each delivering varied and interesting reinterpretations of the source material. The Claro Intelecto is definitely my favourite though:

The Black Dog - Northern Electronic Soul (Claro Intelecto Snake Pass Mix) // Soma buy

Another legendary electronic artist that's still spending quality time in the studio is Gerald Simpson, aka A Guy Called Gerald. As with The Black Dog, Simpson's place in the annuls of electronic music history is well assured given his early involvement with 808 State and of course his legendary Acid House smash Voodoo Ray but since these early days he's dropped back into the shadows a little although given his sizable back catalogue he's clearly not been lounging around. Given the length of time Gerald has been involved with electronic music and the countless changes and splintering that has happened to the early house and techno genres en route, it's fairly logical that his latest album takes on board many of these influences whilst still retaining true to the sounds of yesteryear (Pacific State even makes an appearance albeit not in as strong a guise as the original). I found the album to be a bit of a mixed bag, feeling in parts like a bunch of old ideas being rehashed and as seems typical of output from many of house and techno's elder statesmen these days, the overall result is one of retrospective competence rather than forward-thinking genius but there's several choice cuts present; in particular when he lets loose with the string section.

A Guy Called Gerald - Indi Vibe // Laboratory Instinct buy

Shifting the focus onto a relatively new producer brings me to Xhin's Plexus / Blade Moth 12" from a couple of months back. Similar in style to his Fixing the Error / Link release from the start of the year and in fact echoing the approach of two fully formed tracks plus two stripped down tools, the listener is once again treated to another outing of relentless, uncopromising club tracks perfect for tougher dancefloors. Depending on your passion for white noise and industrial thuds drenched in reverb you're likely to either love or hate this and it's certainly not something to file under armchair listening but it seems as if Xhin is pretty set on carving himself a very specific niche with his own brand of resolutely fierce and downright sinister sonics.

Xhin - Plexus // Meerestief buy

Closing for today is a track lifted from Michael Fakesch's remix album, Exchange. Reminiscent of classic Boards of Canada, this is the final track from a very varied compilation. So varied in fact that it's definitely something I've cherry-picked from the release as the album encompasses such a variety of styles that all but the most broad-minded or inquisitive listener is going to struggle to find it an easy ride from start to finish. Given the album is essentially a collection of reworkings that Fakesch has done for other artists at various points in time, it's probably not surprising that the album as a whole feels a little disjointed as this reflects the kaleidoscopic differences between the original artists and tracks. Some worthwhile tracks exist though (or else I wouldn't be mentioning it here!) and of particular note are the remixes of Mr Oizo, Her Bad Habit (Jimmy Edgar) and of course the Franz Kirmann track below.

Franz Kirmann - Little Baby Eyes (Fakesch Remix) // Musik Aus Strom buy

Production School

2010-05-29T11:02:00.015Z

Since having heard Production Unit's 'It's Personal' on The Highpoint Lowlife 2010 Mixtape I've been waiting eagerly for it's release. It seems like an age has gone by since then but the Ghost Track EP on which it features is now available via the HPLL website and I think will be hitting the main digital retailers within the week. The track and in fact the whole EP itself is not something that's easily pigeonholed although both dubstep and techno influences can clearly be heard throughout. The net result on It's Personal and, to a lesser extent, Axel, sounds like some kind of futuristic spaghetti western soundtrack. The rest of the EP is similarly intriguing and melds together distorted vocals, rave stabs and a variety of other electronic trickery on top of common themes of throbbing bass and crisp percussion. My biggest gripe about the whole thing is that (I think) it's a digital only release as this would surely have been an addictive piece of black crack.

It's Personal can be downloaded via the link below and the full EP can be previewed via Production Unit's Soundcloud page although if you've got any sense, you'll just head on over to HPLL where for the paltry sum of £3 you can bag the full release for your takeaway pleasure.

To help promote the EP, Production Unit has also put together a mix for Clash magazine - I've not checked it out yet but the tracklist is pretty interesting so I'm looking forward to doing so.

Production Unit - "It's Personal" by highpoint lowlife

For those not aware, Production Unit was part of the now defunct Marcia Blaine School For Girls which takes me nicely onto this little video which involves the other two members - Bryan Kerr on visual duties and Ruaridh Law aka TVO on the sonics. As regular readers will know, TVO has featured several times on these pages previously and given his varied musical output, each new offering is both a treat and a surprise. This time, the music is abstract and experimental and one for headphone listening. Taken from the forthcoming album 'Amid The Blaze Of Noon', again out on HPLL but not until late summer. The album will be out on both CD and DVD and while I tend not to spend masses of time watching visuals in a home environment the A/V pairing on this particular project seem to complement each other perfectly.

Dalston. Ala from Bryan Kerr on Vimeo.

Blood Deep

2010-05-16T14:22:00.014Z

As mentioned on these pages back in January, the debut release on Dark Arx Recordings was one that made me sit up and take note and set a high benchmark for subsequent output on the label to follow. Well, release number 2 is now upon us (has been for a couple of weeks actually) and this time it comes from label head Dark Arx himself and is most definitely a continuation of the initial high quality standards.

Where the first release hinted at a dubstep agenda, Dark Arx's Blood Vein EP places this medal proudly on its chest and in doing so propels the label forward into the dancefloor arena. Both Blood Vein and Streak meld stepper's rhythms with spacious techno sound palettes to deliver laid back yet totally danceable offerings that span the Berlin-Bristol divide. The third track on the EP, Argent and Sable, dispenses with the kick drum and makes a return to the kind of dub-infused electronica served up on the label's first release. The track doesn't so much unfold as kind of float along its four minute duration as the growling bassline bubbles away in the background while delayed effects pan across the speakers and a skittery hi hat keeps time before the track slowly edges back into the shadows.

To accompany the EP, comes another installment in the Dark Arx podcast series. Again, put together by Dark Arx himself, Podcast no.3 showcases the label's twin passions for dubstep and techno. As with all forward thinking DJs and labels, Dark Arx clearly has eyes on both the past and the present in order to help define the future. Podcast #3 takes on board techno classics from the likes of UR & Basic Channel and splices them together with modern day gems from scene heavyweights such as Dettmann and Scuba and emerging talents like Instra:mental and ill-ec-tro-nic faves Stroboscopic Artefacts.

Dark Arx - Podcast #3

All in all, both the EP and the podcast only serve to cement my initial inclination that Dark Arx was going to be an interesting little project to keep an eye. Roll-on release no. 3!

Artificial Abstractions

2010-05-05T07:43:00.017Z

Luis Flores isn't a name I've come across previously but on the strength of his Pain and Prosthetics release on Hidden Agenda it's certainly going to be one I keep an eye out for in the future. Delivering three dark and brooding club tracks full of tension and perfect for building up the climax in a set, this is definitely a release for discerning techno heads. The digital version also features a bonus cut in the form of 'Vitamins 4 U' which takes things in a slightly different direction due largely to the vocodered Anthony Rother-style vocals. Not quite as strong as the tracks on the vinyl release but provides a little variety and all in all this is a tasty little package.

Luis Flores - Bajando // Hidden Agenda buy

Keeping with the dark warehouse vibe, we move onto the latest installment of goodness from the Stroboscopic Artefacts camp. Back in March, fresh remixes of Lucy & Ercolino's Gmork & So The Nothing Grows Stronger came out; this time with Luke Slater & Dadub at the controls. Both deliver strong, reverb-heavy slabs of techno perfect for the rave although the Dadub one works it's way up to the pounding techno structure by taking in some dubstep influences prior to the breakdown so for me, provides the most interesting home listening - I suspect the Slater mix would nail it in a club environment though.

The next installment of Stroboscopic's digital only sampler EP is due out this week and once again offers a bit more variety that the typically heads-down fodder of their 12"s. That said, the killer on 'Gamma' is Abstract Souls' Abstract Subway which is a deep and heavy dancefloor workout with another well placed nod towards Basic-Channel. Given that Discogs suggests this is this artist's first release, they're certainly out of the gates on a flyer so lets hope they can maintain this quality on subsequent outings. The rest of the sampler contains some nice cuts too: Modern Head's 1969 is mesmerizing in its simplicity and sure to find dancers shuffling along in contended bliss while Donor strips things down to a sparse and cavernous kickdrum and modulating bassline formula that takes in a variety of sonic effects as it meanders along while Claudio PRC finishes things off with a slab of dark sci-fi ambiance.

One thing that's currently puzzling me about this label is why neither Boomkat nor Phonica are currently stocking it in the UK - come on guys you're really missing a trick here - get on it!

In respecting the label's wishes, we're only going to put snippets from these releases up again. You can also check out previews from Juno / Juno Download & Zero" who clearly have the good sense to have the full SA catalogue online.

Lucy & Ercolino - So The Nothing Grows Stronger (Dadub Remix) (SAMPLE) // Stroboscopic Artefacts

Abstract Souls - Abstract Subway (SAMPLE) // Stroboscopic Artefacts

Stroboscopic Artefacts also featured heavily on Modyfier last month with no less than 5 installments in their Process Series! I've not had chance to check the mixes out in full yet but if the crew's DJ skills are of the same high standards as the label's productions then I suspect there's some treats in store!

Keeping with the dubby vibe but moving into stepper's territory is a promo mix we were sent a while back for last Friday's FWD night at Matter - I meant to post ahead of the event but kind of got sidetracked! The mix takes its time to work all the way up to full dancefloor strength, starting off with tracks from across a variety of genres with some of the early selections not being the kind of thing you'd typically expect to hear on a mix from one of the big names in Dubstep. However, fans of Appleblim will know what to expect as the showcasing of his eclectic side is something he's done previously, particularly on his excellent Rinse FM mixes from last year.

Appleblim - FWD / Rinse Promo Mix

Rounding things up for today is a tasty little freebie sent to us to promote Mount Kimbie's latest release - a collection of remixes out on Hotflush that comes in 2 parts. Part 1 is out now (actually sold out in a few places) and features the Falty DL version below plus remixes by James Blake & Instra:mental. I've not heard the second remix package yet but it features Tama Sumo & Prosumer and label boss Paul Rose in his SCB guise. Part 2 was originally due out at the end of April but doesn't appear to be in the shops yet so I'm guessing it's slightly delayed but due to drop imminently.

Mount Kimbie - Serged (Falty DL Remix) // Hotflush buy

Bank Holiday Bonanza

2010-04-30T13:14:00.014Z

In celebration of their latest two (Saturday night) mix CDs and the fact that the curators of said mixes (DJ T. & Optimo) are both playing at Fabric next Saturday we have one of each mix plus a pair of guestlists for the night up for grabs.

Both mixes are pretty tasty although it will probably come as no surprise to anyone who's been following the ill-ec-tro-nic for a while to hear that it's the Optimo mix that really sets our pulses racing. Optimo's proven track record of throwing seemingly incompatible tracks together but managing to make them gel so well and create a near constant party vibe is without doubt what's made them such heavyweights on the electronic scene and why their sets are the stuff of legend. Fabric 52 is no different and includes their usual mix of everything from punk-funk to techno; taking in disco, house and pretty much everything in between too.

All good DJs pride themselves with an ability to pick out tracks that other jocks aren't playing but Twitch & Wilkes must surely push these exploratory boundaries further than most; showing their tastes are not just vast and eclectic but that even when they select cuts that don't really stand up on their own, they still manage to find them a perfect place in amongst the stone cold killers.

So, in order to stand a chance of getting your mits on this tidy little package, just mail us at illectronic.blog(AT)gmail.com with your answer to the following question.

Q) What is JD Twitch's real name?

The competition closes at midday, Friday 7th May. If you are entering from abroad or are otherwise not able to attend the actual club night, please let us know in order that we can split the prize and give the tickets to someone who can.

The full lineup for next Saturday is available here and you can pick up the mixes direct from Fabric's website (the Optimo one isn't actually out yet but drops soon).

Tune In

2010-04-21T07:45:00.016Z

The resurgence of 'the Basic Channel sound' in recent years is something which is often commented upon in both the media and in record store catalogue listings. The deep, dubby vibe and metallic synths that typifies the phenomenon seem to crop up all over the place these days be it as part of a track's accompaniment in either techno or dubstep circles or as the actual basis of the track for next generation BC / Rhythm & Sound / Maurizio-influenced producers such as Quantec or Deepchord / Echospace.

While it's frequent for the imitators to be criticised for not reaching the high standards set out by the innovators or pushing the sounds into uncharted territories, there are an equal (probably greater?) number of people (myself included) more than happy to lap up these sonic variations and said fans are likely to take great pleasure from Deadbeat's Radio Rothko mix.

Despite only containing a small number of tracks actually produced by Mark & Moritz, Radio Rothko screams Basic Channel at you and merely fluctuates along this pivotal axis as the mix takes its course; never straying very far from the production 'rules' the pair used. Featuring a wide variety of BC-influenced tracks and producers both old and new, the mix leans to the mellower side of their sound and despite not being a BC-affiliated product it's perhaps the perfect counterbalance to Scion's earlier 'Arrange and Process' outing which delivers a much tougher dancefloor-oriented take on the template.

No takeaway today but Deadbeat's Magnetic North features on the mix and is available below for your viewing / listening pleasure. You can pick up a copy of Radio Rothko at the usual stores on either CD or download.

Deadbeat "Magnetic North" from the Agriculture on Vimeo.

Less Of My Lip

2010-04-12T18:19:00.017Z

For today's post, I'm going to try and dispense with some of the usual hyperbole in order to try and keep things trim and concise for you guys as well as to help minimise the time I spend staring at the screen trying to think of suitably expressive ways of describing what your own ears will tell you anyway. There's also no real theme or connection between the tracks featured other than the fact that they're taken from releases which have tickled my fancy in recent weeks.

Abstract elecronica seems to have all but died a death in recent years but as it played a big part in my formative electronic years, it's still something I have something of a soft spot for. For me it's certainly the melodic side of the scene that provides the interesting reference points rather than the overtly crazy 'drum kit falling down the stairs' experimental stuff. As is often the case with IDM producers, Tudor Acid's Merri Portland dabbles in both aspects and in parts it pushes me towards the limits of what I consider to be acceptable levels of 'challenging listening' but it also contains some interesting moments and wins brownie points for invoking a sense of nostalgia in me, hence gets a mention here.

Tudor Acid - Endangered Species // Tudor Beats Buy

Next up is a track from Prins Thomas' debut album. Filed broadly under the category of Space / Nu Disco, this isn't a genre I give a great deal of time to but on occasion it provides some respite from the the slightly purer form of electronics I usually favour. Prins Thomas is one of the scene's established stars and his self titled album provides a pleasant listen, throwing guitars and other 'real' instruments into the mix to deliver a psyched-out balearic vibe.

Prins Thomas - Uggebugg //Full Pupp Buy

On a more electronic tip, Davide Squillace's Tutti Frutti 12" plays around with different doses of house and techno to deliver a pair of dancefloor friendly cuts. The title track is a percussive house number with a strong groove supplemented by a gasping vocal that forms the main hook. On the flip, Old Dusty Pictures reverses the house / techno quotas but again delivers a mid-paced offering perfect for shuffling along to. While neither of these tracks are particularly mind-blowing they are certainly pleasant and will most likely be worthwhile additions to a variety of DJ's tool kits given the flexibility that tracks of this nature provide in terms of building sets up or down or indeed helping to present a little breather from the anthems.

Davide Squillace - Old Dusty Pictures // Hideout buy

Finishing off today is a track most definitely for the horizontally inclined. It's an entirely beatless affair coming from The Village Orchestra's back catalogue. It's lifted from his 'Outside the Circle Looking In' album which is itself a compilation of tracks completed over the last 8 or so years but having previously only being released in not so readily available environments (blog exclusive downloads etc). The album encompasses a variety of styles as is pretty much par for the course with TVO's production output but what's almost better than the great tracks on offer is the fact that he's giving it away for FREE!!! So what are you waiting for, head on over and bag yourself a copy!

The Village Orchestra - Shouting Gram (excerpt)

Easter Fun - Fabric Competition

2010-03-29T19:27:00.007Z

Apologies for the radio silence over the last couple of weeks - Langer and I ended up going on a very last minute snowboarding trip and tools were downed almost instantly with scant regard for our adoring public. Those of you with a similar passion for the white stuff may wish to keep your eyes on this - a project being run by the people Langer and I stayed with while we were away.

Anyhow, back to the music!

Easter weekend will soon be upon us and just as much of a tradition as over-indulging in chocolate is the UK's (and I'm sure numerous other countries') passion for indulging in some dancefloor mayhem over the Easter break.

As ever, Fabric has lineups to die for and not being content with being host to a killer beat-laden party on the Friday (including our mate Goodhand and his Numbers collective), Saturday sees Detroit legends Robert Hood and Kenny Larkin hit Room Two with Cassy, Daniel Bell and some other prominet house and techno stars also being on the bill. Check out the full weekend lineup here.

It's been a while since the last one, but Fabric has once again been kind enough to offer us some freebies to give away. We have two pairs of tickets up for grabs and to be in with a chance of winning just e-mail us at illectronic.blog(AT)gmail.com with the answer to the following question.

Q) Which legendary Detroit techno / electro collective was Robert Hood an early member of?

Entries by midday this Thursday please.

For those of you otherwise engaged this weekend here's a little taster of what you may be missing out on.

First up is a Robert Hood live set from last year - It think this was pretty soon after Hood started performing live - I didn't witness it first hand but to be honest the recordng didn't blow me away like I thought it might do. It's got plenty of his trademark tough and incredibly stripped productions and therefore there's some great moments in it but I was expecting the flow to be a little better - the gaps in the recording certainly don't help this - I assume these were filled with whoops & hollers as the crowd on the night lapped it all up. I keep meaning to edit the gaps out...

Robert Hood (Live) // Jan 2009

Next up is a couple of stone cold classics from Mr Larkin. he's always been one of my favourite Detroit producers but he never seems to get quite as many press inches as some of his peers (presumably not helped by him taking a sabbatical from techno at the turn of the century to pursue an alternative career in comedy). Some of his early productions are simply mind-blowing and when I saw him DJ several years ago I enjoyed it immensely too.

Dark Comedy - War of the Worlds // Art of Dance (1992)
Kenny Larkin - Metaphor // R&S (1995)

Kruzin' On

2010-03-12T14:01:00.008Z

As I mentioned shortly after it's release, LJ Kruzer's Manhood & Electronics is a truly delightful slice of ambient electronics perfectly suited to a spot of horizontal listening. However, as I'm sure you've gathered by now, I also have rather a penchant for doing the techno shuffle so was excited to learn that select cuts from the LP were being given the remix treatment with the express intention being to give them a little dancefloor oomph.

The Manhood & Electronics EP comprises two remixes each of both Poil and Tam with all of the tracks coming from different producers. TVO and Trademark tackle Tam and both versions follow a similar formula whereby the original ambient melodies form the backdrop of the revised track whilst kick drums plus additional percussive and synth elements have been added to provide the danceability (as you would expect!). I've not heard any of Trademark's work before so wasn't really sure what to expect but their version is a kind of laid back tech-house affair albeit with a bit of a disco vibe - pleasant enough but not really my thing. TVO's Dead Weight mix is much more up my street - truer to the electronica vibe of the source material and steeped in atmoshperics and tension. The kick doesn't drop until the 2 minute mark and then only stays for a while coming back in every now and again for a small flutter of activity to punctuate the dense orchestral tapestry TVO has a fondness for weaving.

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The remixes of Poil are handled by Cyan341 and Ukkonen and again both bring something very different to the table. Cyan's341 mix is a heads down minimal workout with little resemblance to the original version although the fact that the album version provides some of the few percussive moments of the original LP it's probably fitting that such a beat-laden version features on the remix package. Ukkonen's version makes good use of Kruzer's fondness for pianos and is more in keeping with the overall feeling of the original source material even though things are glitched up a bit here. Ukkonen is another artist I've not come across before but apparently hails from Finland and has releases due out on both Uncharted Audio and Rednetic later this year. At a shade under three and half minutes, this initial glimpse into the working's of this producer left me very hungry to hear more so we were particularly delighted when Uncharted Audio offered us another of his tracks as a blog exclusive.

Ukkonen's Tam remix doesn't form part of the official remix package but is provided here for your listening pleasure. Similar in feel to his Poil remix but with a 4/4 structure this time, this mix provides another interesting take on the original and I can only assume it missed out on inclusion on the full release by a whisker. All in all then, this remix EP is a very worthy accompaniment to the original long player and provides enjoyable dancefloor moments whilst helping to expose LJ Kruzer's music to new audiences and new environments.

The digital version is available now and the limited vinyl edition was due out this week too but has been delayed. However, the nice folk at Uncharted Audio are doing a great deal whereby if you pre-order the vinyl direct from them now, they'll give you the digital release while you're waiting for the wax to arrive - can't say fairer than that!

LJ Kruzer - Tam (Ukkonen Remix) // Blog Exclusive

Time To Boogy

2010-03-06T17:53:00.008Z

The relevance of the mix CD in today's times of frequently flowing and freely available podcasts is a subject which gets debated frequently but my stance on it is simple: if the mix is good then the CD is worth buying. Excellent examples of such worthy purchases were highlighted last month in Langer's double headed Fabric feature and the latest addition to the Boogybytes series is another such case in point. Boogybytes Vol.05 is mixed by Seth Troxler and is the first in the Boogybytes series not to be put together by one of the core BPitch roster and if this was done as a toe dipping experiment then Ellen Allien must surely be pleased with the results.

Setting out with an elongated and rather captivating intro that spans the first three tracks, the party vibe finally drops with the rather ubiquitous The Soul Part II (a track I'm not actually that keen on) before starting the mix's journey through a variety of interesting changes in pace and musical direction. The first half of the mix has an underlying house vibe but invariably with a deep techy undercurrent as exhibited on tracks such as Deniz Kurtel's remix of Fables and Fairytales. Things head into more minimal territory around the halfway mark, spearheaded by Alex Delano's Molar One and also featuring the likes of Hawtin, Hearthrob and Matthew Dear (in his Jabberjaw guise) before lightening up again with the excellent Birds and Souls and then finishing with a flurry of attention grabbing tracks including cuts from Roman Fluegel and Fever Ray.

In isolation, most of the tracks on this mix probably wouldn't get me particularly excited but Troxler's skill in selecting tracks that work well together and using them to move around the playing field and keep things interesting is what really makes this a worthy purchase and on the strength of this outing it's easy to see why Troxler is gaining a growing reputation as a DJ of considerable note.

The mix doesn't seem to be in all the usual places just yet e.g. Boomkat but you can pick up a copy at Phonica.

Dancefloor Delights

2010-02-21T17:01:00.013Z

More goodness from the Stroboscopic Artefacts camp to kick things off for today. This time it's from the label's digital only arm and their beta sampler. The release showcases a more diverse output than the tracks I've heard on the label's vinyl offerings and rather than watering down the label's techno focus it simply pushes their agenda into house, minimal, dub techno and even dubstep territories. Each of the four cuts on offer comes from a different producer and is of a high standard but for me it's the dark steppa's filth of Perc's 'Wooden Art' that steals the show here with an uncompromising excursion into tough, rigid percussion and dark, haunting FX although Frank Martiniq is another worthy contender for top billing with his enchanting dub techno epic 'My Visor'.

We've been asked not to post full tracks for this one but here's a couple of samples from our favourite cuts on the EP.

Perc - Wooden Art (Sample) // Stroboscopic Artefacts
Frank Martiniq - My Visor (Sample) // Stroboscopic Artefacts

You can pick up a copy of the sampler here.

Next up today comes something that will need little introduction for anyone who's been into techno for any length of time or knows of its history. Plus 8 Records was founded in 1990 by Richie Hawtin and John Aquaviva and is without doubt one of the most important techno labels of its time. As well as putting out a plethora of releases involving Aquaviva and Hawtin across a variety of aliases, it was also home to a lot of Speedy J's work throughout the 90s as well as other great releases from the likes of Dan Bell, Kenny Larkin and Vapourspace to name but a few.

To celebrate the label's 20th birthday it released a special remix package at the end of last year where modern day stars were invited to remix the label's back catalogue. Across 22 tracks, the artists list reads like a who's who of techno's history both past and present and the track selections on offer provide some interesting takes on the classic originals. Taking such a revered body of work and trying to improve on it is always going to be a challenging task and certainly where the compilation succeeds is in adjusting the original tempos and sounds to fit modern day dancefloors. While the overall package is a solid enough offering, it lacks any real killer moments though and in my mind at least it's beauty stems largely from the remnants of source material that bring a lump to the throat as the they cause memories to be unlocked. Definitely worth checking though.

Teste - The Wipe (Rex Sepulveda Remix) // Plus 8

Plus 8 - The Remixes is available from the usual digital outlets including Zero".

One thing that's changed a lot in 25 years of dance music is the way records sound these days. When done properly, modern day production techniques certainly make your ears prick up even if these same techniques are often derided for replacing the raw soul and passion associated with records from yesteryear. While not particularly being of a tempo or beat structure that I usually lean to, there's something about Tim Xavier and Camea's Velvet on Canvas release that really does it for me. I think it's the overall production style that I like; the way that everything is so warm and full sounding and where the groove just carries you - I can't quite put my finger on it but I know that I like it.

EDIT: Track Removed by Request

Pick up a copy at Juno.

Belated Introduction

2010-02-13T10:54:00.012Z

Despite being going since 2008, the Prologue label only came to my attention recently. The first release to make me take note, was Iori's Unknown Place EP as I had recently come across his work on Galaxy, the debut release on the Phonica White series. Across both of these releases, Iori has made his agenda pretty clear with a heavy focus on post Basic Channel dub techno and his sound palette is warm, deep and very immersive. My one criticism of his work is that his tracks have a tendency to take hypnotic minimalism a little too far and moving towards a more verse-chorus-verse type structure rather than the minimal pattern evolution he seems to favour, would, in my mind at least, elevate his work to the next level.

Iori - Magnetic // Prologue buy

Cio D'or is a more established name, having put out a string of 12s over the last 5 or so years. Die Faser is her debut album and puts together a collection of tracks linked largely by a common theme of experimentation with reverb and delay. The overall result is pleasing, reminding me in parts of Pantha Du Prince's work albeit with a more minimal dancefloor edge. Whether it hangs together that well as an album is something that I'm not too sure of as the danceflooor focus of many of the tracks gives an overall feel more akin to a doublepack 12" release although as this has come out in digital format only I guess this is something a little hard to achieve! For the digital jocks out there though, this minor quibble of mine isn't going to make much difference as the key thing here is that there's plenty of tasty cuts to weave into your sets.

Cio D'or - Brokat // Prologue buy

Donato Dozzy has been causing quite a stir on the blogosphere, not least as the mighty mnml ssgs has put him on a pedestal as one of the best DJs in the world right now. Having checked out some of his online mixes as well as having seen him play at Bleep 43 last year, it's pretty clear that anyone with a penchant for deep, thoughtful electronics is going to take great pleasure from checking out this guy's work behind the decks. He's also got a healthy production history under his belt and I'm a little ashamed to say that I'm not too familiar with this side of his work. On the In Vaders EP, Dozzy teams up with Dino Sabatini to deliver a pair of deep techno cuts that are complemented by an additional track from Sabatini and chums in their Modern Heads guise. The title track is definitely the dancefloor killer here with a rolling percussive groove and skittery effects providing a platform for the arcade-style bleeps that no doubt provide the inspiration for the title. Nocturnal is a much more sedate affair based on Sähkö style minimalism perfect for headphone listening and Mooger mixes thick ambience with tough Berghainesque percussion to deliver a slowly-evolving tool filled with subtle twists and turns to keep your ears pricked up.

Donato Dozzy & Dino Sabatini - In Vaders // Prologue

The In Vaders EP is scehduled for release on 19th Feb - check out a full preview here.

Fabric Hits A Century

2010-02-07T17:12:00.007Z

The Fabric and Fabriclive mix series have just reached their half century each and continue to push the envelope exploring new sonic territories. Fabric could have easily sat back and ploughed the same old furrow as other so-called 'superclubs' by putting out generic mixes from the scenes trusted big hitters. However they have gone the other route and keep on championing rising talents.

The two new mixes come from Martyn and D-Bridge & Instra:Mental. Martyn can be considered now to be a big name, however Fabric is still the first label to release mix by the artist and to give him the honour of number 50 says something about their attitude. Although considered to be a Dubstep artist, Martyn has always incorporated many more influences than straight up Bass music. His mix starts off with the Prince/Outkast R&B of Hudson Mohawke then drifts through 2-step to Dubstep to Techno. It's a varied mix of beats which would normally be reserved for the Fabriclive nights but it shows just how much the House and Techno community has opened up to dubstep that they can now sit side by side on Fabric's main Saturday 4/4 centric night.

Martyn - Hear Me (Zomby Mix) // 3024 Buy

Fabric 50 mixed by Martyn is out now. Buy

EDIT - Martyn has also done a promo mix to accompany the official release - check it out here.

The real revelation for me though came when listening to D-Bridge & Instra:Mental present Autonomic. After being mesmerised by the emotive 'Watching You' by Instra:Mental from last year, this mix just blew me away. What Instra:Mental & D-Bridge have created is a new take on Dubstep fused with a half-step minimal Drum & Bass tempo to create a brand new sound for the 2010s.

“There was no space in drum & bass, it was just running twenty breaks on top of each other, so we thought about what we could do, because what we were making was quite minimalistic in some ways; we decided to not fill the gaps." - Instra:Mental

The mix contains many tracks from the artists themselves but also many of Dubstep's leading lights working at a Drum & Bass tempo. Tracks from the likes of Scuba, Skream and Distance slot perfectly in the mix.

This will be a mix that is going to get caned all year and is a breath of fresh air from the D&B scene which I personally though had lost it's creativity long ago. Highly Recommended.

Instra:Mental - Watching You // Nonplus+ Buy

Fabriclive 50 will be released on February 15th (USA March 23rd)

A Bit of This, A Bit of That

2010-01-31T08:46:00.019Z

Bit of a mixed bag today but we kick things off by heading straight for the jugular with a slab of relentless dancefloor dirt perfectly primed for darkened warehouse spaces. Having missed out on the first Stroboscopic Artifacts release, numbers two and three have definitely aroused my interest. The vinyl versions are limited to a pair of two tough dancefloor numbers but the digital releases also incorporate a pair of stripped down tools for the adventurous DJ to play around with. Xhin's Fixing The Error / Link came out back in November with Lucy and Ercolino's Gmork dropping a couple of weeks back. You can pick up the full Stroboscopic Artefacts catalog at Juno / Juno Download and I suggest you keep your eyes peeled for future releases too.

Xhin - Link // Stroboscopic Artefacts
Lucy & Ercolino - So The Nothing Grows Stronger (Dadub Tool) // Stroboscopic Artefacts

Following that fairly brutal assault from Xhin, it's time for something a little lighter. Harald Bjork is another name I've not heard of before but this is of little consequence though as the glitched up grooves and simple melodies of his Kranglan EP fit nicely into a small section of my record collection and work well for breaking up the more stripped back and dubby sounds I usually favour.

Harald Bjork - Skvaltan // Kranglan Broadcast buy

The Kranglan EP reminds me quite a bit of Border Community's output which is handy as they're the next camp to feature today. Luke Abbott's Whitebox Stereo came out at the back end of last year and, on the opening track in particular, harks back to the label's defining moment, The Sky Was Pink. The rest of the release is more varied and takes Luke's sounds in a variety of different directions including the deep electronica of Pavillion and the melodic experimentation of Musicbox Two. You can pick up a copy here.

The final track for today comes from a compilation put together for this year's Club Transmediale festival in Berlin. While I don't really know much about the festival, I can only assume that it features a fairly wide range of artists and styles as the compilation is pretty varied. While not everything on the compilation is my cup of tea there's some great tracks on there including cuts from Mount Kimbie & Scuba (albeit that these have featured on this blog previously) as well as this rather interesting little string piece from someone who's name I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce.

Hildur Gudnadottir - Erupting Light

However, the best thing about this compilation is surely that if you head on over to the nice folks at Zero " they are currently giving it away for free - be quick though as this is only until Feb 7th.

Breaking Through

2010-01-23T20:15:00.011Z

Without wanting to get too hung up on genre classification, I can't help but feel that Boomkat's Dubstep / Grime / Funky category, under which it has filed Binary Sequence's debut EP, provides a rather inaccurate prejudice of what this release is going to sound like. Sure, the tracks contained within '66/31' exhibit dubstep rhythms and deep dubby atmospherics often associated with the techier side of the Dubstep genre but to me at least, the underlying feel is certainly more Electronica than Grime or Funky.

Anyhow, that aside, what matters here is the quality of the music on offer and this EP definitely pushes the right buttons for us. Across the three relatively short tracks featured on the release, Binary Sequence sets out his stall very nicely indeed, dishing up electronica that is certainly hard to pigeonhole and there's definitely a hybrid and very forward-thinking feel to this tidy little package.

The EP marks the first release on the new Dark Arx imprint, a label which describes itself as one which provides a home for artists on the fringes of the Dubstep/Bass/Techno scenes. To complement this debut release, the label has also released a pair of mixes; one from label boss Dark Arx and one from Binary Sequence himself. Both mixes provide an excellent blend of laid-back Dubstep / Electronica and if the quality of these podcasts and this debut EP are indicative of the standards we can expect from this crew's future output then they're definitely going to be an outfit to keep a keen eye on.

Binary Sequence - 66/31 // Dark Arx

The EP is out on vinyl & digital formats and can be picked up from the usual places including Juno.

You can download both promo mixes from Dark Arx's Soundcloud page.

Clearing The Decks

2010-01-18T16:06:00.000Z

Today's post is an attempt to cover off some things I've been meaning to mention for weeks in the (perhaps unlikely) hope that I'll get back to posting about things that have only just been released.

Emptyset are an act I've been meaning to feature on these pages for a very long time indeed as I've been a big fan of their work ever since hearing their Isokon EP back in 2007. Their brand of stripped back techno minimalism really appeals to me and they are a classic example of how a small sound palette can be used to keep intrigue in a track's evolution as well as producing an overall sound that really fills the speakers. Over the course of three 12s for Future Days and Caravan, these boys delivered some very interesting cuts that work particularly well for slowing things right down in the thick of a mix and making the listener really tune into the skeletal sonic remains before things get cranked up again. Their debut long player dropped last year and I must admit that it caught me a little off guard initially as it's a lot less dancefloor than I was expecting. The eponymously titled release strips things back even further than their earlier work and becomes almost an experiment in sonic manipulation, focusing heavily on drones, bleeps and white noise all underpinned by lashings of bass. Despite, not really being a 'dancefloor' album, some of the cuts on offer here would no doubt cause devastating effect if placed into the right hands although looking for standout tracks is not really the way to approach this album as it's not the kind of release to dip ones toe into lightly as the immersive nature of the complete sonic package is where the real beauty lies.

You can check out the album in full over at Caravan's Multiverse page where the press release also provides some interesting notes on the concept behind the album. You can buy a copy of the release at the usual outlets including Boomkat.

You can also download a mix put together by the less famous half of the duo (the other being 30Hz / Ginz who will be well known to any dubstep aficionados) that takes a pleasant walk through techno minimalism picking up some house and dubstep en route.

Emptyset - DJ Mix (Nov '09)

If Emptyset's darkness is a little too much for you, then perhaps Lusine's latest long player is a little more up your street. As with his earlier work, A Certain Distance is a solid electronica outing but this time with a much poppier vibe than before. The overall result definitely makes for a very engaging listen and there's some great tracks on offer but on some of the vocal numbers (Twilight in particular) things stray too far into easy listening territory for my liking. Don't let this put you off though as all in all, this is a pretty decent album and well worthy of your attention - you can pick up a copy here.

Lusine - Operation Costs // Ghostly International

Rounding things off for today is a good bit of Detroit style techno. Not actually Detroit techno as such as the producer in question, Davor, hails from Croatia but it came out on Detroit's Matrix Records and certainly uses a Detroit-esque sound palette. Four version of Transitional Objects feature on the Transitional Objects Remixes package although there's only actually two remixes (Jolka and Area, neither of whom I've heard of previously) plus the original and a beatless version from Davor himself. For me it's definitely the beatless 'No Gravity' mix that's the pick of the bunch as the meandering synths, rising chord sequences and sci-fi FX unfold to deliver an intriguing and very rich tapestry that, as the title suggests, allows the listener to float along with the music.

Pick yourself up a copy at Juno.

Davor - Transitional Objects (No Gravity Mix) //Matrix Records

A Decade In Music: The Singles (Part Two)

2010-01-13T18:13:00.004Z

For the final part of our decade review, we look at the pick of the singles from 2005-2009:

Although Electroclash died almost as quickly as it had arrived, Electro itself would go on to mix with House to give the genre exactly what it needed to see it into the 21st century. Around the middle of the Noughties, Electro House became the epitome of underground dancefloor cool and Germany was the breeding ground for a new set of labels to push forward, once again simply by looking back and combining sounds and patterns that had previously been largely isolated from one another. As with every good thing though it couldn’t last, but far from dying, Electro House transcended underground cool to become the dominant sound of commercial dance music in the latter part of the Noughties and with it, lost much of the innovation that made it special before it became the next soundtrack to sell cars to.

Dub became the next retro sound to be brought back into the mix and this time it was youth once again making it's presence felt on the electronic scene. Grime sensibilities and 2-step rhythms mashed together in bedroom studios across south London by producers barely out of school kickstarted the mighty force that has become Dubstep. Initially characterised by lashings of bowel-shattering bass underpinning sparse percussion and vocal accompaniment, the scene evolved over the years (and continues to do so) but for us, it's been the splintering of Dubstep that has provided perhaps the most interesting developments as it takes onboard sounds from genres as wide ranging as Electronica, House, Hip Hop and R & B.

Dubstep has also had an undeniable impact on techno, initially felt when the likes of Skull Disco combined their particular Dubstep brand with the metallic sounds of Basic Channel, resulting in crossover hits championed by the likes of Villalobos and later the Hardwax / Berghain camps. Dubby sounds now inundate techno releases right from the laid back 'listening' end of the scale through to the reverb-drenched sounds used to fill out tougher dancefloor cuts. As techno approaches its 25th birthday, it celebrates by taking on board the best bits of the past, and while the bpms have dropped considerably from their 90s peak, any loss in dancefloor energy has been replaced by cerebral music motivating heads and hearts as well as just limbs.

Top 100 Tracks of the Decade (Part 2: 2005-2009)

Âme - Rej // Sonar Collective, Innervisions (2005) - Superb techno epic with a wide ranging appeal - undeniably one of the best techno records of all time
Andy Stott - Massacre // Modern Love (2007) - Stott has delivered a plethora of quality tunes over the last few years but for us, the laid-back dubby number is the pick of the bunch
Appleblim & Peverelist - Circling // Skull Disco (2008) - Appleblim was the first to cross Basic Channel Techno with Dubstep. A whole new genre was born
Audion - Mouth To Mouth // Spectral Sound (2006) - Proof that stripped down loopy techno minimalism can devastate a dancefloor
Beck - Cellphone's Dead (Villalobos Entlebuch Remix) // Interscope (2007) - One of a host of remixes by Villalobos that defined his minimal sound
Ben Klock feat. Elif Bicer - Goodly Sin // Ostgut Ton (2009) - Brilliant pairing of stripped down techno & haunting vocals - proof that the two can work together
Benga & Coki - Night // Tempa (2007) - HUGE dubstep anthem
Bjork - Dull Flame Of Desire (Modeselekor's Remix For Girls) // One Little Indian (2008) - Trancetastic synths combined with Bjork & Antony Hegarty's vocals to deliver a peak-time killer with a massive feelgood factor
Bob Marley - War (Matty G Remix) // WAR001 (2007) - Speaker shaking remake of an all-time classic
Bobby Peru – Erotic Discourse (Original + Audiojack Remix) // 20:20 Vision (2006) Massive synth hooks on this Electro House smash
Booka Shade - Mandarine Girl // Get Physical (2005) - Massively uplifting house track for those hands in the air moments
Burial - Archangel // Hyperdub (2008) Our only debate here was which Burial track to include on the list as he's delivered so many greats
Claude VonStroke – The Whistler/Who’s Afraid Of Detroit? // Dirty Bird (2006) - Put VonStroke on the map. Whistler for the House heads, Detroit for the Tech heads
Cobblestone Jazz - Dump Truck // Wagon Repair (2006) - Organic Jazzy Techno at its finest from Mathew Jonson and friends
Danton Eeprom - The Infinity Project // Tsuba (2008) - Classy Electro Techno from Mr Eeprom which transcended its peers
Datashat - Stop The Message // Handsette (2008) - Quirky electronic remake of an old Grandmaster
Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom - Relevee (Carl Craig Remix) // DFA (2006) - No one could touch Carl Craig's remixes in 05/06
Depeche Mode – The Sinner In Me (Villalobos Conclave Remix) // Mute Promo (2006) - Turned Depeche Mode's original into a minimal Ibiza anthem
Disrupt - Selassi I Continually // Werkdiscs 2007 Closing track to Disrupt's debut album - feel the dub
Dubfire - I feel Speed (Audion Mix) // Sci + Tec Digital Audio (2007) - One of Audion's best remixes with a big slo-mo breakdown
Ellen Allien & Apparat – Jet (Paul Kalkbrenner Remix) // Bpitch Control (2006) - A perfect record made even better by Paul Kalkbrenner
Frankie Valli - Beggin (Pilooski Edit) // 679 Recordings (2007) - Amazing rework of a track your parents used to dance to - why this didn't destroy the UK charts is still a mystery to us
Gabriel Ananda – Dopplewhipper (Live) // Platzhirsh (2006) - Huge minimal Ibiza anthem
Heartthrob - Baby Kate (Sascha Funke Remix) // M_nus (2007) The pick of the many versions of this track that did the rounds
Hot Chip - Over And Over // EMI (2006) - Peak-time pop with superb crossover appeal
Hot Chip - Boy From School (Erol Alkan Remix) // White Label (2007) - Erol took the already great original & elevated it to new levels
Jackson & His Computer Band - Utopia // Warp (2006) - Yes, it was on the O2 advert but it's an undeniably great slice of electronica
Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo // Hotflush (2009) - Rightfully huge & guaranteed to bring happiness to the dancefloor
Jus Wan - Action Potential // Applepips (2008) - Quality dubtec from a producer that still hasn’t been given the recognition he deserves
Justice – Waters Of Nazareth (Erol Alkan’s Durr Durr Durrrrr Edit) // Ed Banger (2005) - Justice defined the French Ed Banger sound. Monster
LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations (Original + Tiga Remix) // DFA (2005) - One of the best tracks from the first album, given extra muscle by Tiga
Loco Dice - Seeing Through Shadows // M_nus (2006) - Another defining minimal track from Richie Hawtin's label
M.A.N.D.Y. Vs Booka Shade - Body Language // Get Physical (2005) - Get Physical defined Electro House in the middle of the decade
M.I.A - Paper Planes // XL Recordings (2007) - Brilliant use of samples on this worldwide smash
Mala - Left Leg Out // DMZ (2006) Proof that Dubstep had more to offer than just earth shaking wobble basslines
Marc Houle - Bay Of Figs // M_nus (2006) - Like an air raid siren going off wherever it was played - huge!
Martin Buttrich - Full Clip // Planet E (2006) - Detroit Techno in the classic mould
Martyn - Suburbia // Applepips (2008) - Sheer dubtec brilliance
Martyn - Vancouver // 3062 (2008) - Another flawless Martyn production from his pivotal year
Mathew Jonson - Marionette // Wagon Repair (2005) Jonson in cerebral mode - sparse evolving minimalism - very classy indeed
Millie & Andrea - Temper Tantrum // Daphne (2009) - Huge speaker shaking bass harking back to the old school
Moderat - Let Your Love Grow // De:Bug Hartwaren (2006) - Hillaire's silky smooth vocals and Modeseletor's dubby side delivered this standout track from Happy Birthday
Modeselektor Feat. Thom Yorke - The White Flash // Bpitch Control (2007) - Mournful electronica beauty at its best
Mount Kimbie - Maybes // Hotflush Recordings (2009) - A defining track of 2009, sets the template for the next decade
Mujava - Township Funk (Original + Ashley Beedle's Africanz on Marz Re-Edit) // This Is Music/Warp (2008) - Ghetto tribalism with one of the best synth hooks of the decade
Pangaea - Router // Hessle Audio (2008) - Dubstep at its most emotive and beautiful
Redshape - Black Dust // Present (2007) - Essential square bass sonics from the man in the mask
Redshape -Blood Into Dust // Delsin (2008) - Slow-paced techno killer with a colossal dark room vibe
Rekorder - Rekorder 8.1 // Rekorder (2007) - Bodzin & Huntemann delivered a whole host of killers around this time but this is our pick of the bunch
Rhythm & Sound - Dem Never Know (Sleeparchive Remix) // Burial Mix (2006) - Sleeparchive showing that he could turn his hand to more than just minimal 4/4 grooves - utterly essential
Rustie - Jagz The Smack / Clipper // Stuffrecords (2007) - The EP that propelled Rustie into stardom - the only debate here is which track is the biggest killer
Shackleton - Blood On My Hands (Original & Villalobos Apocalypso Remix) // Skull Disco (2007) - Shackleton moved Dubstep into minimal territory and Villalobos crowned it with his epic remix
Shed - Estrange // Ostgut Ton (2008) - Epic electronica from an album which defined the Berghain sound
Silent Servant - Violencia (Kalon Remix) // Sandwell District (2008) - Utter techno filth guaranteed to slay tougher flaws - we only discovered this in 2009 but were caning it all year
Simon Baker - Plastik (Original & Todd Terje Remix) // Playhouse (2007) - A techno killer from Simon Baker also re-contextualized by Terje into a Space Disco epic
Skream - Midnight Request Line // Tempa (2005) - A defining Dubstep record
Solid Groove - This Is Sick // Front Room Recordings (2005) - Dave 'Switch' Taylor was responsible for a healthy number of quality productions throughout the noughties but as the title suggests, things don't get much sicker than this one
The Chemical Brothers - Electronic Battle Weapon 8/Saturate // Freestyle Dust (2007) - The Chems proved they still had it with this anthem
Theo Parrish - Falling Up (Carl Craig Remix) // Third Ear Recordings (2005) - Pick of the bunch from the Carl Craig remix years
TRG - Broken Heart (Martyn's DCM Remix) // Hessle Audio (2008) -A mournfully emotive, yet uplifting remix from Martyn
Zomby - Spliff Dub (Rustie Remix) // Hyperdub (2008) - Call it Wonky? Call it Aquacrunk? Nah, just call it genius in our books.

A Decade In Music: The Singles (Part One)

2010-01-11T09:08:00.001Z

The second part of our decade review focuses on the defining tracks from the last 10 years; again in terms of mine and Langer's personal tastes. Most of these were properly released as singles although a few of our selections were only ever released on LPs. We've selected a hundred tracks but are revealing the list in two parts splitting the decade into two five year chunks.

As with the album post, let us know your thoughts on the tracks we've criminally overlooked...and feel free to comment on any we've included which you think suck! Today's post covers the years 2000 - 2004.

At the end of the Nineties, Techno was stuck in a loop (Literally). Pounding drums and endless looped up riffs combined with hoover basslines were the order of the day. Something had to give. Thanks largely to one record, Techno rediscovered its melody and soul and reminded everyone why they had fallen in love with it in the first place. ‘Knights of the Jaguar’ by DJ Rolando was released in late ’99 by the militant stalwarts of the Techno scene, Underground Resistance. It’s effect was profound and it became a worldwide smash. We debated long and hard as to whether we should name this our record of the noughties as it soundtracked many a club night in the first half of the decade and to this day will send the crowd wild if dropped during a set. Ultimately we decided against this, opting instead to select one record from each half of the decade as depicted by the image used for each of the two posts.

One word could perhaps be used to sum up the Noughties… The word? Eighties. Never more so has retro influenced the fashion and musical output than the Eighties did over the last 10 years (particularly the first half). What goes around comes around and at the start of the decade electronic music was in need of a new injection of energy and ideas. Electronic music has always looked to the future for inspiration but in the noughties we looked to the past. The new injection came from some of the first incarnations of electronic music, namely Synth pop, Italo Disco and Electro. These old styles gave Techno and house a new edge in the form of Electroclash. For a short while Electroclash ruled dancefloors on both sides of the pond and produced a myriad of great tunes. But as with any scene based around a ‘fashionable’ sound it was never going to last. By 2003 it had burned out, leaving the fashionistas looking for the next big thing. Stepping into the void came the sound of early Eighties New York; Punk, Funk and Disco. One of the key labels of the decade, DFA records exploded onto everyone’s radar with James Murphy’s LCD Soundsystem. ‘Losing my Edge’ neatly summing up in one record the feeling of the first generation of Ravers now losing out to the ‘New Kids’ but with the self satisfaction of knowing that it was never going to be as good as when they were kids back in day.

Top 100 Tracks of the Decade (Part 1: 2000-2004)

7 Hurtz - Stokers Motor // Output (2000) - Old school electro vibes given a modern polish
Adam Beyer - Remainings III (DK Remix) // Drumcode (2000) - No nonsense hoover techno
Adult - Hand To Phone // Clone (2001) - One of the big electro-clash anthems
Agoria - La 11eme Marche // PIAS (2002) - Anthemic peak time techno from this talented Frenchman
Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Running // Vulture Music (2000) - Scraping into the 10 year roundup by a whisker, it feels like this classic has been around much longer
Alter Ego - Rocker // Klang Electronic (2004) - Caned by every man and his dog and given the remix treatment on several occasions to boot
Boards of Canda - A Beautiful Place In the Country EP // Warp (2000) BOC's sumblimely beautiful 4-tracker from the turn of the century
Chicken Lips - He Not In // Kingsize (2000) - Kickstarted Electro House with its early Eighties vibe
Claro Intelecto - Peace Of Mind // Ai Records (2003) - Claro's debut release and one that absolutely blew us away
Felix Da Housecat - Silver Screen Shower Scene (Original & Thin White Duke Mix) // City Rockers (2001) - The original was good but Jacques' remix was guaranteed to raise the roof on any dancefloor
Felix Da Housecat - What Does It Feel Like (Royksopp Return To The Sun Remix) // City Rockers (2001) - Smack House? Royskopp's remix utilised a deep bassline to mesmerising effect
Felix Da Housecat - Madam Hollywood // City Rockers (2002) - Kittin's vocals' perfectly complemented Felix's production and helped him confine his jackin' Chicago roots well & truly to the closet
Green Velvet - La La Land // Relief Records (2001) - Anthemic vocal number that got sweaty ravers singing along like it was a karaoke night
Josh One - Contemplation (King Britt Funke Remix) // Prolifica (2002) - The vocal, the bassline, the memories. Pure House.
Layo & Bushwacka - Love Story // XL Recordings (2002) - Anthemic house at its finest
LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge // DFA (2002) - How to sum up the Noughties in one record? James Murphy's debut said it all.
Legowelt - Disco Rout // Ghostly International (2002) - Eighties Influences transformed Techno in the first part of the decade. This was its finest moment
LFO - Freak // Warp (2003) - A welcome return to form from LFO albeit in a direction not entirely expected
Lil Louis & Josh Wink - How's Your Evening So Far? // FFRR (2000) - Messing with a classic is a very risky game but this remake of French Kiss once again resulted in screams of ecstasy
Luciano - Amelie On Ice // Mental Groove Records (2002) - Underpinning the Amelie sountrack with electro beats was nothing short of genius in Luciano's hands - signs of the greatness that was to come
Luciano & Quenum - Orange Mistake // Cadenza (2003) - Luciano again on fine form this time with Quenum in tow to deliver their twisted genre-defying masterpiece
M83 - Run Into Flowers (Jackson's Midnight Fuck Remix) // Gooom (2003) - Glitch Noise. M83 was transformed by Jackson's mad genius.
Mathew Jonson - Deconstruction // M_nus (2004) - Absolutely immense electro growl - somewhat different to much of Jonson's other work but definitely his dancefloor destroyer
Metro Area - Muria // Envion (2001) - Metro Area re-invented eighties Disco for a new generation
Nathan Fake - The Sky Was Pink (Holden Remix) // Border Community (2004) - An epic remix full of interesting twists and turns - it's starting to show signs of age but this is still a killer and for the time being at least, remains our favourite track from the first half of the decade
Octave One - Black Water // 430 West (2000) - The Burden brother's answer to Jaguar - a detroit techno anthem for the 21st century
Radioactiveman - Uranium // Rotters Golf Club (2001) - That Bassline! Killer electro that proved Tenniswood was a considerable solo force to be reckoned with
Rex The Dog - Prototype // Kompakt (2004) - Uplifting fun from a pop-star turned (semi)-serious producer
Roman Flugel - Gehts Noch? // Cocoon (2004) - Headwrecking wonkiness from one half of Alter Ego
Roots Manuva - Witness (One Hope) // Big Dada Recordings (2001) Jump up party anthem with bass to die for
Simian Vs Justice - Never Be Alone // International Deejay Gigolo (2004) - Justice transformed this Indie pop track into the ultimate party anthem
Soulwax - E-Talking (Soulwax Nite Version) // PIAS (2004) - It's all about the bass guitar in this reworking by Soulwax
Soulwax - Another Excuse (DFA Remix) // PIAS (2004) - The DFA added extra vocals and melody to the Electro House staple
Spektrum - Kinda New (Tiefschwarz Remix) // Playhouse (2003) - Starting to sound a little dated now but this electro house number killed dancefloors and mixes by the dozen upon its release
The Hacker - Fadin Away (Dima Remix) // Goodlife (2000) - First exposed on Dave Clarke's World Service mix, this is a fast-pased slice of nu-electro fun
Tiga & Zyntherus - Sunglasses At Night // City Rockers 2002 - Camp electroclash nonsense that suddenly made so much sense
Underground Resistance - Transition // Underground Resistance - (2001) - UR has delivered a number of strong messages over the years and this was it's defining one as we entered the new millenium
Villalobos - Dexter // Playhouse (2003) - Way back before he went all minimal, Villalobos used to knock out quality techno such as this
Vitalic - La Rock 01 // International Deejay Gigolo (2001) Like it said on the release notes at the time; if you only bought one record all year, make sure it was this one!

A Decade In Music: The Albums

2010-01-09T09:31:00.000Z

Even though there's a good risk you're probably all sick of lists by now, we're about to hit you with some more as Langer and I have compiled our thoughts on the best releases the noughties had to offer. We're going to deliver this in 3 parts (hopefully with a significantly better posting frequency than we usually manage!) with today's covering our pick of the albums, mixes & compilations.

Our selections are based on personal tastes and wherever possible reflect the releases we both feel warrant a mention (we each had a few wildcards too for when we couldn't agree on an in/exclusion). The selections are largely based on things we still think sound great today rather than ones which we loved at the time but haven't aged so well - there are still a few that remain for nostalgic reasons though.

We've gone for an A-Z list rather than a top to bottom ranking as it would probably have taken us another 10 years to agree an exact running order otherwise! We're sure there'll be some great releases we've forgotten about or simply not heard and would love to get reader's views on your favourite releases of the last decade too so drop us your thoughts in the comments section.

Anyhow, on with the first installment:

Top 50 Albums Of The Decade:

Abstract Though - Hypothetical Situations // Kombination Research (2003) - One of the fabled 7 Drexciyan Storms
Akufen - My Way // Force Inc. (2002) - Sample-heavy experimental glitch
Alex Smoke - Paradolia // Soma (2006) - Superb deep emotive techno
Andy Stott - Unknown Exception // Modern Love (2008) - More of a singles collection than an album proper but undeniable greatness altogether in one place
Ben Klock - One // Ostgut (2009) - Solid warehouse goods from one of the Berghain mainstays
Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase // Warp (2005) - A mini album harking back to the days of Music Has The Right
Burial - Burial // Hyperdub (2006) - Stunning debut who's word soon spread from the underground to become coffee-table cool
Burial - Untrue // Hyperdub (2007) - Our favourite album of the last 10 years - simply superb!
Christ - Metamorphic Reproduction Miracle LP // Benbecula (2003) - Reverb drenched off-kilter electronica from the 3rd member of BOC
Claro Intelecto - Neurofibro // Ai Records (2004) - Quality debut from Mark Stewart while he still had a foot in the electronica camp
Convextion - Convextion // Down Low Music (2006) - A long time coming but the debut LP from Gerard Hanson was well worth the wait
Datassette - Datassette // Ai Records (2008) - Sounding not unlike Drexciya on a dubstep tour of South London
Deepchord Presents Echospace - The Coldest Season // Modern Love (2007) - Chilled out ambient electronics with a heavy nod to Basic Channel
Disrupt - Foundation Bit // Werk Discs (2007) - Digital Laptop Reggae's defining moment
DJ Rush - Shall We Dance // Pro-Jex (2000) - Jackin' Chicago filth from the crossdressing freak
Ellen Allien & Apparat – Orchestra of Bubbles // Bpitch Control (2006) - Perfectly pitched Techno/Electronica that stood out from the rest of German minimalism
Felix Da Housecat - Kittens & Thee Glitz // City Rockers (2001) - THE electro-clash album
Hot Chip - The Warning // EMI (2007) - Pop music never tasted so good
Isolee - We Are Monster // Playhouse (2005) - One of the most accessible releases from the producer that originally defined Glitch/Micro House
Jose Gonzales - Veneer // Peacefrog (2005) - A surprise release for Peacefrog but sublimely beautiful nonetheless
Kelpe - Sea Inside Body // DC Recordings (2004) - Playful beat-tinged electronicaKraftwerk - Tour De France Soundtracks // EMI (2003) - A welcome return to the studio from the men who set the ball rolling way back when
LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver // DFA (2008) - James Murphy's sophomore album really built on the defining DFA sound of his first.
Lusine - Podgelism // Ghostly International (2007) - More a remix album, but is incredibly consistent and cohesive
M83 - Dead Cites, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts // Gooom (2003) - Electronica's answer to My Bloody Valentine with synths
Martyn - Great Lengths // 3034 (2009) - Thoughtful dubstep with a wide-ranging appeal
Matthew Dear - Asa Breed // Ghostly International (2007) Pop-tinged electronics from Audion's alter ego
Metro Area - Metro Area // Environ (2002) - Future disco of the highest order
Minilogue - Animals // Cocoon (2008) Classy minimalism without the po-faced seriousness
Moderat - Moderat // Bpitch Control (2009) - A brilliant collaboration which married their two sounds perfectly
Modeselektor - Happy Birthday! // Bpitch (2008) Lashings of bass, beats and fun from the jokers of techno
Monolake - Polygon Cities // Monolake/Inbalance Computer Music (2005) - Clinical audiophile electronics of the highest order
Panda Bear - Person Pitch // PAW Tracks (2007) - The Beach Boys references are unashamedly clear but this album gives the sound a tweak and delivers it to a whole new generation
Pantha Du Prince - This Bliss // Dial (2007) - Perfectly titled album that offers a lighter feel to techno minimalism
Radioactive Man - Radioactive Man // Rotters Golf Club (2001) - Tenniswood steps out from beneath Weatherall's shadow and more than matches his mentor's production abilities
Radiohead - Kid A // Parlophone (2000) - Radiohead ditch the guitars for electronica for a defining album
Redshape - The Dance Paradox // Delsin (2009) - Retrospective techno futurism from the man in the mask
Rhythm & Sound - The Versions // Burial Mix (2003) - Deep instrumental cuts from Basic Channel's dub project
Ricardo Villalobos - Alcachofa // Playhouse (2003) - Definitive Villalobos album before he got consumed by 9 minute production epics
Royksopp - Melody AM // Wall of Sound (2001) - Playful pop electronica
Scuba - A Mutual Antipathy // Hotflush Recordings (2008) - One of the first dubstep albums that focused more on the techno side of the sound
Shed - Shedding The Past // Ostgut (2008) - Stripped down no-frills techno straight out of the Berghain
Technasia - Future Mix // Technasia (2001) - More of a singles collection interspersed with radio snippets than an album in the truest sense of the word but with killer techno like this on offer who's going to be picky!
The Knife - Silent Shout // Brille (2006) - Brilliantly dark electronic pop
The Other People Place - Lifestyles of The Laptop Café // Warp (2001) - Solo project from Dexciya's James Stinson released not long before his untimely death
The Streets - Original Pirate Material // 679 Recordings (2000) - Perfect social commentary of Britain's youth in the early Noughties
Thom Yorke - The Eraser // XL Recordings (2006) Perfectly captures Thom Yorke's lyrics with mournful electronica
Two Lone Swordsmen - Tiny Reminders // Warp (2000) - The last fully electronic album from the Swordsmen before Weatherall's rockabilly fascination took hold
Ulrich Schnauss - A strangely Isolated Place // City Centre Offices (2003) - Lush atmospherics perfect for armchair listening
Various Production - The World Is Gone // XL (2006) A half dubstep half folk album really shouldn't work but Various' cross-genre production abilities resulted in this very engaging offering

Top 20 Mixes / Compilations Of The Decade:

2manyDJs - As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt 2 // PIAS (2003) - Cross-genre cut & paste madness that set the world alight and spawned a thousand imitators
Appleblim - Dubstep Allstars Vol 6 // Tempa (2007) - Superb showcase of the techier side of dubstep
Dave Clarke - World Service // React (2001) - Killer nu-electro mix before it all went horribly fash (slammin' techno mix too!)
Ellen Allien - Fabric 34 // Fabric (2007) - Solid mix unconstrained by the minimal rules that governed so many at the time
Felix Da Housecat - Excursions // Obsessive (2002) - Genre-defining Electroclash mix on Felix's road to mega-stardom
I-F - Mixed Up In The Hague Vol 1 // Panama Records (2000) - Legendary set from the electro / italo master
Modeselektor - Boogybytes Vol 3 // Bpitch Control (2007) - Smashing cuts from across the electronic spectrum through the Modeselektor mangle to prove that the boys could rock the party from behind the DJ booth too
Optimo (Espacio) - How to Kill The DJ Part 2 // Kill The DJ Records (2004) - Perfectly summed up the eclectic nature of one of the defining clubs of the decade
Radioactiveman vs Transparent Sound - Beatz Clash Vol 1 // Longhaul (2002) - Excellent 'proper' electro soundclash
Richie Hawtin - DE9 | Closer To The Edit // M_nus (2001) Love him or loath him, Hawtin has been an undeniable innovator in pushing the boundaries of DJing. This was his first full-blown embracing of digital technology to produce a rich cut and paste tapestry.
Robert Hood - Deep Concentration (Grey Area Mix) // N/A (2008) - Heads down loopiness from the minimal master
Rotters Golf Club - Machine Funk Specialist Mix // Rotters Golf Club Promo (2002) - Superlative electro mix given away at the RGC label launch party
Scion - Arrange & Process Basic Channel Tracks // Tresor (2002) - Taking an untouchable body of work and producing something greater than the sum of its parts using an early version of Ableton - one of the greatest 'mix' CDs of all time
The DFA - Remixes Chapter One & Two // DFA (2006) - With originals as good as these, the remixers had their work cut out but the likes of Tiga, Soulwax and the DFA took things to another level
Tiga - American Gigolo // International Deejay Gigolo (2001) - The mix that propelled Tiga into the limelight and towards being crowned the Electroclash prince
Various - 5 Years of Hyperdub // Hyperdub (2009) - Superb double pack from an important label that's always pushing the boundaries
Various - DFA Compilation 1 // DFA (2003) - DFA records helped define the decade. This was a perfect introduction to their Punk-Funk-Disco sound
Various - Interstellar Fugitives 2 - The Destruction Of Order // Underground Resistance (2006) - Criminally overlooked album from one of electronic music's most important institutions
Various - Leisure // Ai Records (2003) - Classy electro/electronica goodness
Various - Soundboy's Grave Gets Desecrated By Vandals // Skull Disco (2008) - Shackleton and Appleblim forged ahead with their own vision of what Dubstep could be

RAW's 2009 Roundup

2010-01-04T12:58:00.004Z

If you were to track my record buying habits over the past 10 years, 2009 would have been a notable spike on the map but for all the wrong reasons. I bought far less records last year than in previous years due in part to having less time for visiting record stores but also due to spending more time listening to mixes than individual tracks due to the abundance of podcasts that seemed to spring up in 2009. The likes of Resident Advisor, mnmlssg's and FACT (to name but a few) were dishing out quality mixes with such regularity that I found myself almost addicted to listening to these offerings but at the same time also becoming swamped with the sheer number available that I still have a significant backlog to wade through. To me, and I'm sure many others, podcasts have become an important medium in electronic music and for this reason I've included them in my annual pick of the best mixes and compilations of the year.

Techno has been my foremost musical love for a long time now and I found myself sticking more and more to this genre throughout 2009. I agree with Langer's comments that a lot of producers are looking back towards the past and while new ideas are perhaps less obvious than they have been in previous years, the scene has reached a very healthy level of maturity and an abundance of exhilarating music continues to be produced. For me, the producer of the year was Ben Klock and while his releases weren't massively groundbreaking they were exceptionally solid and perfectly primed for dark warehouses spaces whilst still providing entertaining home listening - what more does one need? The other big powerhouse for me was Sandwell District through the excellent 12s they continued to unleash as well as the various DJ-related projects of many of its members.

The other main reason I spent less time listening to other's records was an attempt to spend more time writing my own stuff. On a personal production perspective, the highpoint of my year was performing my debut solo gig - something I hope to repeat on several occasions during 2010. The lowpoint was the long-awaited release of a compilation of which I had been told my debut release would be a part of, only for the record to come out and my track not to be on it (thanks Moodgadget - you suck!). However, just prior to year end, I managed to get signed to another label and my debut EP should be out around summer this year (more details later).

Anyhow, enough of my ramblings and on with my lists. Given my slightly sheltered nature this year, I'm sure there's a whole bunch of great stuff I've simply not heard but as I continue to wade through other end of year roundups and do some digging, I'm having great fun being educated.

Here's hoping 2010s another good one!

RAW's Top 30 Tracks Of 2009:
01 Ben Klock feat. Elif Bicer - Goodly Sin // Ostgut Ton
02 Millie & Andrea - Temper Tantrum // Daphne
03 Scuba - Speak // Naked Lunch
04 Kevin Gorman - Mikrowave 12 // Mikrowave
05 O/V/R - Interior // Blueprint
06 Burial & Four Tet - Moth // Text Records
07 Quantec - Halcyon // Echocord
08 Peter Van Hoesen - Attribute One // Time to Express
09 Levon Vincent - Late Night Jam // Ostgut Ton
10 Equalized - EQD002 // Equalized
11 Animal Collective - My Girls // Domino
12 Ben Klock - Subzero (Original + Sandwell District Mix) // Ostgut Ton
13 Pattern Repeat - Ofetriade (Original + Ben Klock Remix) // Echocord Colour
14 Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo // Hotflush
15 Moderat - Rusty Nails (Original + Shackleton Remix) // Bpitch / Fifty Weapons
16 Moderat - Seamonkey //Bpitch Control
17 Mount Kimbie - Maybes // Hotflush
18 TVO - Aklo Cut With Saffron // Highpoint Lowlife
19 Decoside - Reload 3 // Eclipsemusic
20 Joker - Digidesign // Hyperdub
21 TVO - Dots & Hashes // Stuffrecords
22 STP - The Fall // Subsolo
23 Tigrics - Boko (Friskfisk Remix) // Highpoint Lowlife
24 Jus Wan - Submersive // Naked Lunch
25 Guido - Orchestral Lab // Punch Drunk
26 Redshape - 2010 EP // Delsin
27 Ike Release - Misdeeds // Infrasonics
28 Unknown - RUR4 // RUR
29 Gold Panda - Mayuri // Various Production
30 CLP - Dip Shorty (Unsportmanslike Remix) // Shitkatapult

RAW's Top 10 Albums Of 2009:
01 Ben Klock - One // Ostgut Ton
02 Redshape - The Dance Paradox // Delsin
03 Martyn - Great Lengths // 3024
04 Falty DL - Love is a Liability // Planet Mu
05 Moderat - Moderat // Bpitch Control
06 LZ Kruzer - Manhood & Electronics // Uncharted Audio
07 Emptyset - Emptyset // Caravan
08 Sinner DC - Crystallized // Ai Records
09 Point B - Suicide Beauty Spot // Combat Recordings
10 Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion // Domino

RAW's Top 10 Mixes / Compilations Of 2009:
1 Sandwell District - RA177 // Resident Advisor
2 Omar S - Fabric 45 // Fabric
3 TVO - FACT Mix 102 // FACT Magazine
4 SCB - SSGMX37 // mnmlssgs
5 Various - 5 Years of Hyperdub // Hyperdub
6 Surgeon - RA144 // Resident Advisor
7 Various - When I Was 10 // Ai Records
8 Various - Warp 20 (Unheard) // Warp
9 Modeselektor - Body Language Vol. 8 // Get Physical
10 Mark Solo - The Waters Have Broken // Soliton Research

2009: A Year In Music

2009-12-24T12:47:00.025Z

The final year of the Noughties has once again provided us with a plethora of fine releases which have blurred the boundaries of genres and thrown up more surprises than we ever thought possible. Its been nearly 25 years since the first House records and the electronic music scene is in ruder health than ever and shows no signs of abating.

Once again for me the Dubstep/Techno crossover has provided the most interesting releases and still commentators cannot agree on a suitable name for this genre. 2009 has also seen the re-emergence of 2-step and UK Garage influences being thrown into the mixing pot which has now created a sound which is part Bassline/8-bit/2-step/House. The name of this all encompassing new genre? UK Funky...... Hmm your guess is as good as mine.

The Techno scene, as well as embracing 2-step rhythms has shunned the minimal aesthetics of the mid Noughties and returned to its mid Nineties hard Techno roots evidenced on sounds coming out of the Berlin Berghain scene and British producers on labels such as Blueprint and Sandwell District going back to their Nineties origins. It's said you must look back to go forwards but I feel a certain sense of Déjà vu and for me it just feels like rehashing the past.

However as we come to the dawn of a new decade, one can look to the future with a certain degree of optimism because as though the Noughties changed the way in which we consume music forever, one thing always remains and that is the music itself.

Langer's Top 40 Tracks of 2009

01 Mount Kimbie - Maybes // Hotflush Recordings

With its Bladerunner atmospherics, Plink Plonk percussion and chopped vocal and melodic structure, no other record even sounded remotely similar to this in 2009.

02 Burial & Four Tet - Moth // Text Records

Four Tet with a melancholic riff that never lets up + Burial's woodblock percussion and atmospherics equals a record that certainly lived up to the hype.

03 Moderat - Rusty Nails // BPitch Control

Mournful vocals courtesy of Apparat and soaring synth work from Modeselektor

04 Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo // Hotflush Recordings

The biggest crossover record of the year and deservedly so. So uplifting it hurts.

05 Intrusion - Little Angel Feat Paul St Hilaire // Echospace [Detroit]

Dub Techno's finest moment this year pushed its way to the top because of an irresistible vocal from Paul St Hilaire.

06 Animal Collective - My Girls // Domino

Channeling Frankie Knuckles through lyrics about housing with Adobe Slats seemed the most unlikely combination you could possibly imagine. What resulted was pure uplifting, life-affirming pop.

07 The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea // XL Recordings

An 8 minute Krautrock epic from the Goth Mods which came out of nowhere and blew everyone away.

08 Scuba - Klinik // Hotflush Recordings

All Scuba's recordings this year have been faultless. My producer of the Year.

09 Moderat - Nr. 22 // BPitch Control

Pure Dubtec brilliance again from Moderat. From my album of the year.

10 Levon Vincent - Late Night Jam // Ostgut

One of the Techno riffs of the year comes in after 3 minutes of this epic.

11 Claro Intelecto - Chadderton // Modern Love
12 Cobblestone Jazz - Traffic Jam // Wagon Repair
13 Pangaea - Memories // Unknown
14 Florence and the Machine - You Got The Love (XX Remix) // Universal Island
15 Scuba - Speak/Negative // Naked Lunch
16 Wax / Shed - Dub Shed (STP Remix) // Subsolo
17 Joy Orbison - Brkln Clln // Doldrums
18 A Made Up Sound - Rework // A Made Up Sound
19 Gold Panda - Mayuri // Various Productions
20 Bill Withers - Who Is He (Henrik Schwarz Edit) // White

21 Sideshow - If Alone Feat. Paul St Hilaire (Chateau Flight / Appleblim Mixes) // Aus Music
22 Boris - Buzz In (Optimo (Espacio) Mix) // Scion Audio Visual
23 Millie & Andrea - Temper Tantrum // Modern Love
24 The Streets - Blinded By The Lights (Nero Remix) // 679
25 Joker - Digi Design // Hyperdub
26 Kode 9 - Black Sun // Hyperdub
27 Gravious - Futurist EP // Highpoint Lowlife
28 Likhan - Redlight // 7even
29 2562 - Embrace // 3024
30 Martyn - Hear Me // 3024
31 Hector & Bryant - Tension (Original Mix) // Phonica
32 Andy Stott - Night Jewel // Modern Love
33 TVO - Afanc (2562 Remix) // Stuffrecords
34 Instra:mental - Watching You // Nonplus Records
35 Headhunter - Prototype (Modeselektor's Broken Handbrake Remix) // Tempa
36 Ghosts On Tape - Predator Mode (Roska Remix) // Wireblock
37 Darktown Strutters - Lucifer Rising // Unknown
38 Vitalic - Flashmob // PIAS Recordings
39 Ratatat - Mirando (Animal Collective Remix) // XL Recordings
40 La Roux - In For The Kill (Skream's Lets Get Ravey Mix) // Polydor

Langer - Best of 2009 Mix 60 mins

Albums of 2009

01 Moderat - Moderat // BPitch Congtrol
02 Martyn - Great Lengths // 3024
03 Animal Collective - Meriweather Post Pavillion // Domino
04 The Horrors - Primary Colours // XL Recordings
05 Atlas Sound - Logos // 4AD
06 Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange // 4AD
07 Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport // ATP
08 Falty DL - Love Is A Liability // Planet Mu
09 Intrusion - The Seduction of Silence // Echospace [Detroit]
10 Point B - Suicide Beauty Spot // Combat Recordings
11 Echaskech - Shatterproof // Just Music
12 Gold Panda - Before // Unknown

Xmas Gold

2009-12-24T11:57:00.001Z

What with it being Christmas Eve & all, blog posts aren't really that high on my current list of priorities but I've got just about enough time to squeeze this one in.

It comes with a festive theme and as I'm sure you're all starting to tire of the same old Christmas classics I thought I'd share a quirky synth-based version of an old favourite that we were sent.

LJ Kruzer - We Three Kings

If this whets your appetite for more, LJ's Christmas carols EP (long since sold out on CD) is still available for download here.

Have a great Christmas.

Orchestral Delights

2009-12-03T18:18:00.004Z

Another slightly overdue post, this time featuring two heavyweight releases from the rather prolific TVO.

First up is his 'Rooks' 12" for Stuff, a two-tracker featuring a fresh mix of Afanc plus a new track Dots & Hashes. The original version of Afanc featured on the limited CDR given away with early copies of the Dark is Rising EP, although it's probably the 2562 remix on the aforementioned 12" that's the best known version to date. It's TVO on the remix duty this time round and he takes the track back to it's original techno structure but ups the pace a bit and delivers a constantly evolving version that sounds, in parts, not dissimilar to Aril Brikha's early works but finsihes in glitchy cinematic soundscape territory. Dots and Hashes is another constantly shifting affair but this time the haunting melodies and broken percussion kick off the proceedings before the track morphs into a full blown 4/4 workout around the halfway mark, throwing more ideas into a single track than the average minimalist manages in a whole EP and delivering a barrage of low-end party fun.

Copies of Rooks are still available here.

Moving onto 'The Starry Wisdom' on Highpoint Lowlife, opening track Akio Cut With Saffron carries on perfectly from where Dots & Hashes left off with another helping of old-school bass but this time underpinned by hypnotic percussion and a dark, Detroit-tinged undercurrent. Where Rooks had a broadly techno feel, Starry Wisdom leans more into electro and electronica territory although as ever with TVO's work he tends not to get stuck into any one particular camp for too long, so it's no surprise that so many influences are on display here. 'Akio' is probably my favourite track but the booty bass fun of Non-euclidian is also a particularly strong offering as is The king in Yellow. All in all, this is a very solid package and Highpoint's decision to put this out on vinyl after following a 'digital only' path for a while pays testament to the quality of the goods on offer here.

TVO - Non-euclidian // Highpoint Lowlife - buy vinyl or mp3

Before I go, one final thing to mention is TVO's recent mix for Fact magazine. Sure, I'm going to be a little enthusiastic about this one as it happens to feature one of my own productions, but putting that aside, this is a seriously killer mix, taking in all manner of electronic delights and exhibiting the vast influences and creativity that can be heard in Ruaridh's own work but also showing that he can cut it with the best of them behind the DJ booth too. Check it out here.

Three Become One

2009-11-14T18:48:00.007Z

When record labels you love announce that they're closing down it's usually a cause of sadness but when the reason behind the closure is to join forces with like minded souls to move into bigger and better things it can only be a good thing.

This is exactly what's happening with Wireblock, Dress 2 Sweat and our friends at Stuffrecords as they launch their new Numbers label. Numbers has been running as a club night for 5 years now and from it's humble beginnings in Glasgow it has become known as major force on the scene, even coming second in last year's best club poll in Mixmag!

Releases on the three associated labels have been coming thick and fast in recent years and have received large amounts of critical acclaim as well as helping to thrust the likes of Rustie, Hudson Mohawke and TVO onto the scene as well as well as putting out new material from old hands such as Lory D and Rod Lee.

Originally planning to put out music on the new label this year, the first records are now scheduled for early 2010 but this hasn't stopped the crew from moving ahead with the partying. Given the current dispersion of the rather sizable Numbers posse it's only fitting that they hold multiple label launch parties. The Glasgow event went of in fine style (by all accounts) last week but next Thursday sees the party come to London's Plastic People. Performing live on the night are Dorian Concept and Redinho with Deadboy, Jackmaster and Ben UFO on DJ duties. While some of these names may be new to you, Numbers is surely an outfit that can be trusted on such things and if you're in any doubt as to the likely quality of the sounds on offer, check these mixes for a taster of what may lie in store.

Wireblock - XlR8R Mix
Jackmaster - Mix for FWD

Full details of the party can be found on the Numbers website where you can also sign up for their mailing list to get your hands on a whole pile of other mixes.

All Killer, No Filler

2009-11-08T17:45:00.004Z

Here's more quality tuneage that you need to be hearing innit.

Claro Intelecto - Chadderton // Modern Love Buy

Killer new EP from the Modern Love stable.

Scuba - Speak // Naked Lunch Buy

One of my producers of the year. You just can't fault his productions.

Joy Orbison - Wet Look // Hotflush Buy

Hyph Mngo is undoubtedly one of the records of the year. This B side is also a killer as well.

Levon Vincent - Late Night Jam // Ostgut Buy

After Medium is The Message, this is another big record from the hot New York producer.

Hot Mixes:

Shed - Wax Treatment Podcast 003 Tracklist

Jus Wan - Hotflush Podcast 005

Two brilliant mixes in a dubtec style.

Avin' It Large (Or Small)

2009-11-03T18:57:00.006Z

No new tunes for today's post but just a quickie to confirm that I'm alive (I've actually been away on holiday) and to offer a couple of pairs of free tickets for those looking to dance the night away on November 14th.

This time, we've actually got tickets for two different events to give away. First up is the last of the bi-monthly Sweatshop parties for 2009 down at East Village; on this occasion playing host to Ewan Pearson & Al Usher debuting their Partial Arts set.

The second party is a new night called Lost in the Loft being promoted by Secretsundaze's Giles Smith in a rather more intimate location with Chicago House Legend Chez Damier & the excellent Sven Weisemann on the bill.

Full details for both events can be found here and here respectively.

In order to be in with a chance to win the free tickets, mail us with your answer to the following question:

Q) Under what name did Ewan Pearson release his tracks whilst signed to Soma Records in the 90s?

Competition closes Thursday 13th November - be sure to let us know which party you're entering for too.

Rockin' The Boombox

2009-10-10T12:33:00.014Z

After a lengthy hiatus from this blog I've decided to return and give you all more music than you can shake an electronic stick at. These tunes have been rocking my stereo for the last couple of months.

Echaskech - Shatterproof // Just Music Buy

Title track from their great new album out now on Just Music.

Every month Echaskech showcase different electronic artists at their residency at The Concrete Bar on London's south bank.
The next event is on October 17th with Max Cooper (Live) and Input Junkie (Live). For more info go to www.echaskech.co.uk
They also have an album launch for Shatterproof at the Queen of Hoxton on October 28th.

Point B - Track 1 // Combat Recordings Buy

Great melodic Dubstep from the forthcoming 'Suicide Beauty Spot' album on Combat Recordings. Released October 26th.

Andrew Weatherall - Built Back Higher // Rotters Golf Club Buy

Radical Majik - Direct Action (Andrew Weatherall Remix) // Rotters Golf Club Buy

Andrew Weatherall confounds critics who try and put his sound into any type of box. 'Built Back Higher' is my favourite track from his new album 'A Pox On The Pioneers'.

Weatherall also teams up with his Boardroom crew for more new tracks and remixes from 'Andrew Weatherall Vs The Boardroom Vol 2'

Ikonika - Smuck // Planet Mu released Oct 26th

Subeena - Analyse // Planet Mu released Oct 19th

The ladies are upstaging the boys with these two new releases forthcoming on Planet Mu.

It's more great 8 bit Dubstep in a Zomby style from Ikonika plus a melodic Dubtec wonder from Subeena

Florence And The Machine - You Got The Love (XX Remix) // Universal

So this is a remix of a cover version of The Source feat Candi Staton - 'You Got The Love' which itself was a mashup of her original acapella plus Jamie Principal's 'Your Love'.

Hmm.... Worth it though.

And finally some superb podcasts and mixes you should definitely check out.

2562 - Fact Mix 81

Scuba - Podcast 03

SCB - mnml ssgs mix 37

Pull Up A Chair

2009-09-28T11:47:00.002Z

As the summer draws to a close, the relaxing sounds that have been keeping me company in the garden on many a warm evening are sure to feature in the soundtrack of my autumn whilst looking onto the outside from the comfort of my sofa.

Top of the pile for laid-back listening is LJ Kruzer's excellent Manhood & Electronics LP on Uncharted Audio. Equal parts synthesised ambiance and lazy piano melodies, this LP has fitted the bill perfectly on several occasions when the repetitive 4/4 thump that typically soundtracks my life doesn't quite suit the moment as I'm looking to totally unwind. Squeezing 10 tracks into 34 minutes might suggest a fast pace but things couldn't be further from the truth here and as each piece unfolds, you are dragged deeper into the soothing textures Stephen Fiske has conjured up. As hinted by the title, the album was written whilst LJ Kruzer was on on the brink of fatherhood; a timing that can only have assisted with developing the rich emotions exhibited within the album.

LJ Kruzer - Tam // Uncharted Audio buy

With a lengthy list of releases and remixes under his belt spanning the last 16 years, Chris Jeffs aka Cylob has established himself as an electronica producer of considerable note. His largely instrumental work for labels such as Rephlex, Breakin' and his own Cylob Industries also feature on numerous compilations although it's perhaps the disjointed electronica pop of Rewind! that is arguably one of his better known tracks. Jeffs' latest project is known as Ambient News and his album of the same name showcases yet another angle of his take on abstract electronics. Encompassing bells, playful melodies, abstract guitars and a whole plethora of effects, Ambient News delivers a pleasant dose of laid back tunes spanning the ambient and downbeat electronica genres. If you're new to Cylob and like what you hear here, his back catalogue certianly provides plenty of space for exploration; and somewhat generously, you can get your mitts on a healthy pile of it for free via his website.

Ambient News - Lang // Cylob Industries buy

Taking things about as deep into ambient listening as possible, the next release to feature today is another offering from the excellent Highpoint Lowlife stable. Alpine's 'fr:om harmed weather to stark, micro, climates' isn't exactly the snappiest album title I've ever heard but if repeating the name gets your tongue in a twist the ambient sounds that follow will help it unravel itself as the pace of life here provides plenty of time for thought. With abstract ideas incorporating running water, birdsong, passing planes and all manner of other sonic observations this stuff certainly isn't going to generate much movement from your limbs but if you're looking for some intrigue in your headphone listening then it could be just the ticket.

Alpine - micro, // Highpoint Lowlife buy

Dance music DVDs are one of those things that always seem interesting whilst still in the storefront but when you get them home, rarely seem to make repeated viewing. This isn't down to the quality of goods on offer but sitting in front of a TV when great music is booming out never really seems appropriate. Nevertheless, there must be a market for this stuff and one of the latest acts to venture into this ambitious world is Minilogue. Their Animals album has been a a firm favourite of mine right since it's release last year and even some 18 months on, makes regular visits to my turntables. The mellower cuts to be found on the CD version's second disc are more for the home than the first CD (and vinyl version) and it seems fitting that these tracks form a large part of the soundtrack for 'Animals the Movie'. While this DVD isn't the kind of thing you're likely to want to give undivided attention to for repeated viewing, it's an excellent piece of work and as background entertainment whilst chatting with friends it holds its own as the music still sounds fresh and when people devote a few minutes to watching the visuals, the constantly evolving images provide an extremely pleasant interlude. The official release for this DVD was a good few months back now but it's limited presence in the UK is perhaps the main reason why I haven't seen it given much press. You can however, pick up a copy online.

R & S Goodies

2009-09-06T17:44:00.004Z

It's been a while since JD Twitch has featured on these pages but when we heard that he'd been given the run of the R & S back catalogue to knock up a mix we were pretty excited. As you'd expect from a DJ who's well known for keeping the interest levels high, there's a weighty 22 tracks crammed into 'In Order To Edit' and he's thrown in plenty of the label's lesser known cuts in amongst some of the big guns (Energy Flash, 20Hz, Plastic Dreams etc). As the title suggests, there's also a scattering of Optimo re-edits of some of the tracks too.

I'm not sure how long the mix has been out and I've not actually heard a copy yet but the folks over at R & S have provided us with 5 copies to give away. In order to be in with a chance to win the album, you'll need to register for the R & S mailing list via this link and in doing so you'll also get 4 free R & S tracks up front.

Good luck.

Breaking The Line

2009-09-02T20:31:00.006Z

Given the solid reputation and impressive back catalogue that Various Production has established over the years it must have been with equal parts pride and fear that Gold Panda found himself as the first 'signed' artist to be putting out a release on Various' eponymously titled label. The Miyamae EP came out in July and it's a definite winner for all concerned as it maintains the high standard set by the label owners while nicely opening up the path for other producers to follow in Gold Panda's footsteps.

As with Various' own releases, Miyamae isn't a record to be easily pigeonholed as it takes in all manner of influences including techno, electronica and dubstep and even includes some good old computer game sounds. Whilst there's a clearly a massive amount of digital processing going on, the EP also maintains a strong organic feel, particularly through the presence of the melodies and it's perhaps the unashamed Japanese influences that are the strongest reference point here. Back Home and Mayuri exhibit strong dancefloor sensibilities, although it would certainly be interesting to hear these dropped in a peak-time club environment. Long Vacation is more of an excursion into sonic experimentation and is delivered at a pace more akin with the live set Langer and I saw Gold Panda perform a month or so back as well as the "Before" mini album of his I picked up too.

Gold Panda - Mayuri //Various Production buy

Various' ventures have long since been of interest to me and I'm glad to say this deviation from their previous path delivers pleasing results. Gold Panda is currently in the middle of his debut live tour and details of further gigs can be found at his MySpace page. Various Production are also due to do a free live gig at London's Cafe 1001 on October 1st.

And So It Began

2009-08-28T08:06:00.001Z

As with most of my posts, this is somewhat overdue as it contains a recording taken from my debut live gig which was a good few weeks ago now.

As advertised on these pages at the time, Langer and I put on a party at London's Concrete and despite a few technical issues with the venue we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were happy with how the night went. TVO played a superb live set and then went on to DJ from his laptop back to back with Goodhand when we discovered one of the decks was broken - in hindsight the broken kit was a blessing as the pair rocked it good style between them.

I also got to burst my live set cherry and again depite a few minor glitches (of my own making) I was pretty happy with how it went. I've just put the set up on my website (you can get the track listing there too if you're interested) but figured I'd put it up here as well. All tracks are unreleased and pre-demo. Hope you enjoy.

Nanorhythm - Live at Concrete (July 2009)

Future Flash Competition

2009-08-12T20:05:00.010Z

We've got more club tickets to give away and this time we're fully loaded with a whopping 5 pairs for Future Flash at Cable on 22nd August! The lineup's a bit of a corker with both DJ Koze and Lawrence on the bill and the residents (Will Saul, Dave Congreve, Sean Johnston, Matt Waites) have got more than the usual share of production and DJ credentials between them too!

As you should know by now, we try not to make our competitions too taxing so if you fancy a piece of the action, just mail us at illectronic.blog(AT)gmail.com with your answer to the following question:

Q) What is Lawrence's other production moniker?

Competition closes Thursday 20th August and the winners will be picked at random the following day.

Full event details are available here and you can buy tickets at ticketweb or residentadvisor.

Assume Nothing

2009-08-08T11:34:00.009Z

I'm by no means a fan of everything that graces the Planet Mu label but as with last year, 2009 has seen some excellent releases from this camp. One thing that the label has always been synonymous with is experimentation and it's usually a fairly certain bet that anything it puts out isn't going to be formulaic and too easily pigeonholed.

All three of the albums I'm featuring here have been out a month or two at least but they've all proved to have the staying power to make repeat plays on my stereo so I figured they deserved a mention.

First up is Boxcutter's Arecibo Message which starts with two very strong tracks, Sidetrack and Mya Rave, both of which deliver solid 2 step variations and Burial-style atmospherics that'll satisfy any hunger you have for the days of old school rave. From here on in, the album takes all kinds of twists and turns, moving from the Drexyican influenced electro of the title track, through the kind of borderline mentalism one might typically expect of a Planet Mu record on Arcadia 202. There's room for some soulful vocals on Kab 28 and the final cut, A Cosmic Parent even brings a touch of disco to the party.

Boxcutter - Mya Rave // Planet Mu buy

Falty DL's Love is a Liability shares a number of similarities with Arecibo Message, exhibiting garage and electronica sensibilities throughout but where Arecibo Message seems a little erratic at times, Love is a Liability maintains a better sense of cohesion and flow. 2-step patterns, playful melodies and haunting vocals feature heavily and the album has a very strong sense of atmosphere. Dark dubstep vibes also feature heavily and while so many of the influences exhibited are taken from the past, the album also has a futuristic sci-fi feel to it and is without doubt one of my favourite albums of the year so far. It's hard to pick a standout track as there's so many strong cuts on offer so it's perhaps the wealth of the complete package that makes this album work so well. With his first release only coming out in 2007, Falty DL, aka Drew Lustman is a relative newcomer to the scene, but by all accounts he's been making some serious waves and with the quality of work on offer here it's not hard to see why.

Falty DL - Paradise Lost // Planet Mu buy

Upon hearing Few Nolder's, New Folder album, Planet Mu probably isn't the first place you're likely to think of as being its natural home as it's a much more 4/4 affair than usually appears on the label. This isn't to say it doesn't fit with the rest of the label's output, it really just gives further credence to my earlier statement that you should never make assumptions about anything bearing a Mu catalogue number without first giving it a listen. Over 9 tracks of varied micro house similar in style to the likes of Akufen, Lithuanian Linas Strockis serves up some interesting glitchtronica and shows that his decision to quit his career as a professional pianist back in 2001 was certainly to dance music's benefit.

Few Nolder - Pillow // Planet Mu buy

Animal Collaborations

2009-08-01T09:29:00.003Z

Ratatat are a band I didn't even realise I'd heard anything by until just a few days ago. I stumbled upon what I can only describe as their wigged out electronic Hip House sound through a remix by the mighty Animal Collective. Upon viewing their myspace page I actually found I recognised one of their tracks, 'Wildcat'. It was a case of "hmmm where have I heard this before?"

The Animal Collective remix of their latest single 'Mirando' can only be described as 10 mins of glitched-up wonky ambient electronica that just takes you to another dimention with its blissful aural soundscapes. You have to hear it to understand what I'm trying to describe here.

Ratatat - Mirando (Animal Collective Remix) // XL Recordings Buy

Continuing with the Animal collaborations theme, the whole blogging world went nuts when news broke of the new single from Atlas Sound, the solo project from Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and Noah Lennox aka Panda Bear from Animal Collective.

Considering these have been my favourite two bands of this year, to which my friends will no doubt attest to given me banging on about them at every opportunity, this collaboration seemed very special indeed. And I wasn't disappointed. 'Walkabout' is every bit uplifting as any Panda Bear/Animal Collective record and also has elements of Deerhunter's finest moments.

A summer record to savour indeed.

Atlas Sound - Walkabout (Feat Panda Bear) // 4AD

Secretsundaze Competition

2009-07-21T18:22:00.007Z

It's been a while since we've had a comp up here but the nice folks over at Secretsundaze have provided us with a pair of tickets to give away for this Sunday's party.

Ame are headlining along with support from wbeeza & Secretsundaze head honchos Giles Smith & James Priestley.

It's at Village Underground in Shoreditch 2pm-10:30pm and tickets are available from Resident Advisor & Phonica

If you fancy a shot at winning the freebies just mail us as illectronic.blog(AT)gmail.com with your answer to the following question:

Q) What label was wbeeza's Heavystuff EP released on?

Answers by midday Friday please - good luck.

ill-ec-tro-nic @ Concrete, London. Sat 18th July

2009-07-16T18:22:00.006Z

Here's a final reminder about our night down at Concrete Bar in London. We are showcasing Glasgow's Stuff records and playing live is The Village Orchestra and ill-ec-tro-nic's very own RAW in his Nanorhythm guise.

TVO has an arsenal of electronic weapons in his machines ranging from cerebral armchair electronica through to dancefloor bombs whilst always exhibiting an air of playful experimentation. With a new album just released on Highpoint Lowlife and still riding the wave of the critical acclaim he received for his The Dark is Rising EP on Stuffrecords earlier in the year, this rare London appearance for the talented producer should be unmissable.

Nanorhythm will already be known to The ill-ec-tro-nic readership and while a small number of his productions have been exposed to the world via the blog and through the Soliton Research netlabel (of sorts) that he co-runs, this is Nanorhythm's debut live set. He's been working on a host of new productions and is looking forward to unleashing his brand of dub-infused techno minimalism on the crowd.

If that's not enough then Stuff and Numbers resident DJ Goodhand will be bringing the funk with his glitched-up party tunes and myself, Langer will be playing deep Techno and my favourite cutting edge Dubtec records.

We always like to give you a little something extra here at ill-ec-tro-nic so TVO has put together a superb mix of Techno and Dubstep for you listening pleasure.

TVO - Blank Page Mix // 1 h 40 mins

You can get the tracklisting plus other Stuffrecords podcasts Here.

Saturday July 18th
Concrete Bar,
Hayward Gallery, South Bank,
London, SE1 8XX
8pm - 1am / Free Entry

Map

Facebook

www.stuffrecords.co.uk
www.ruaridh.marciablaine.com
www.nmbrs.net
www.solitonresearch.com
www.myspace.com/djmarksolo

Random Roundup

2009-07-04T15:09:00.004Z

It's been a while since I last posted so I thought I'd do another random roundup of what's been floating my boat recently.

First up, the best Electronica track I've heard all year. 'Maybes' by Mount Kimbie is their first official release on Scuba's label Hotflush Recordings. It's all Blade Runner atmospherics, Burial style vocal samples and plink plonk percussion. Judging by this I can't wait to hear more of their next EP.

Mount Kimbie - Maybes // Hotflush Recordings Buy

Speaking of Burial his collaboration with Four Tet was one of the most hyped records of the year. It looks like an album maybe in the pipeline but until then you'll just have to do with with this haunting slice of deep house. 'Moth' Seeing as it is impossible to buy as an MP3 I thought I'd give you a high quality version. You can still by the Limited 12" on Discogs Marketplace

Andy Stott and Miles Whittaker, aka MLZ have been putting out a series of limited 12"s under the Alias of Mille & Andrea on Daphne Records which is an offshoot of Modern Love. As you'd expect it's all Dub Techno spacial atmospherics laced with Dubstep percussive beats. The third in the series is exceptionally good with elements of 90's Junglist hardcore on 'Temper Tantrum' and Berlin style T++ dubtec sounds on 'Vigilance'

Millie & Andrea - Temper Tantrum // Daphne Buy

More on the Dubtec crossover tip now courtesy of Phonica Records. This is their first release on their own imprint and it comes from Hector and Bryant. The original mix of 'Tension' is a minimal Techno builder with Dub shards and Detroit synths towards the end. Appleblim and Al Tourettes team up to come up with a tougher take on the sound which clocks in at 130 bpm and takes its cues from the UK Funky sound and Wonky styles whilst retaining the Dub atmospherics

Hector & Bryant - Tension (Appleblim and Al Tourettes Remix) // Phonica 001 Buy Vinyl Buy Mp3

Finally you should check out the new release from Scuba. 'Klinik'. Very similar to his previous release 'Tense' it is all Berlin Metallic shards over stepper beats. Highly recommended. Buy

In fact you can hear it in all its glory on this great Dubtec mix courtesy of Brendan Moeller aka Beat Pharmacy.

Beat Pharmacy - Dubstep Mix July 09

Tracklist:

1. aardvarck - Water
2. pendle covern-MVO_Chambers
3. Martyn - all I have is memories
4. porter ricks-Redundance
5. Loefah - Rufage
6. scuba - Klinik
7. retroblast - Get Down
8. search_and_destroy-candyfloss_(loefah_remix)
9. relocate - Dot dot dash
10. Headhunter - In Motion
11. moderat - Nr. 22
12. kontext - Plumes (Ramadanman Refix)
13. Burial - Versus
14. pangaea-Bear Witness
15. Skream- Backwards
16. rod modell-Heaven Above
17. synkro - On My Mind
18. 2000F & J kamata - You don't know what love is
19. Kode9 - Stung
20. slack-elephant_step
21. monolake-Titan
22. Pink Floyd-One Of These Days

This Are Two Tone: 30 Years of 2 Tone

2009-07-04T14:49:00.005Z

30 Years of 2 Tone. Picture special.

In 1979, The Specials' leader, keyboardist and songwriter, Jerry Dammers created 2 Tone Records. Releasing seminal recordings by The Specials, Madness, The Selector, The Beat and many more, the label quickly grew out of its modest Coventry roots and became one of the most successful and revered record labels of its time. 2 Tone's legacy is legendary...

Check out the images at PYMCA

ill-ec-tro-nic Presents:

2009-06-21T19:26:00.013Z

Apologies that our posting frequency's been even slacker than normal of late but one of the things that's been keeping Langer and I busy is sorting out a party for next month.

It's at Concrete Bar which is part of the Hayward Gallery on London's Southbank and is crackin' little venue both inside and out. We've got a Stuffrecords special going on with The Village Orchestra playing live as well as Stuff/Numbers resident DJ Goodhand. I'm donning my Nanorhythm guise for the evening and playing my debut live set and Langer and our mate Mark Solo are on DJ duties as well. It's on Saturday July 18th 8pm-1am and it's FREE to get in too so hopefully see you there!

Saturday July 18th, Concrete Bar, Hayward Gallery, South Bank, London SE1.
8pm - 1am Free Entry.

Map

Facebook page

We'll be reminding you about it nearer the time too but to whet your appetite's here's a tasty little mix that Mark did for my Soliton Research site - enjoy!

Mark Solo - The Waters Have Broken

Tracklist:

01 | Tokyo Black Star - Game Over (Loco Dice 5am Remix)
02 | Deepchord - Vantage Isle (DC Mix)
03 | Deepchord - Vantage Isle (Original)
04 | Ovatow - Phalaenopsis
05 | Onur Ozer - Kasmir (Loco Dice Remix)
06 | Reese and Santonio - How To Play Our Music
07 | Affkt & Danny Fiddo - Points
08 | Fuckaponydelic - Switch The Lights (Motorcitysoul Mix)
09 | Kenny Larkin - Bass Mode
10 | Inspirational - Releasing The Pressure (Rhadoo Mix)
11 | Lauhaus - Cassmance
12 | Jona - Sunset
13 | Minilogue - Ghost
14 | Repeat Repeat - Why Must
15 | Body Code - Equidistant
16 | Queen - Flash's Theme
17 | Chromatics - Running Up That Hill

Riding High

2009-05-30T10:49:00.001Z

Until recently, the delights of the Highpoint Lowlife label were unknown to me but but over the past few weeks I've been giving some air time to some of their releases and have been generally delighted by the results. As with many a 'discovery' these days I first took note when something leapt through my headphones but due to my poor file keeping I wasn't quite sure where I'd got the tracks by 'Kwaidan' from. A search of discogs failed to provide any results and it was only when I noticed an e-mail bearing a similar catalogue number from the amongst the mountain of junk we get sent that I started to dig and realised that I'd been sat on a whole heap of promotional gems for way too long.

The Kwaidan tracks are kind of hard to describe as they don't sit easily with usual categorisations - there's definitely dubstep overtones remisicent of the likes of Skull Disco but at nearly 12 minutes long apiece, the two tracks on HPLL030 encompass so much more as they mutate along their trajectory taking in all manner of haunting wails and machine drones amidst the pervading dark atmosphere.

Kwaidan - Hoichi //HPLL030

Highpoint's roster is a pretty varied affair but from the handful of releases I've checked out, there's a strong electronica presence; a genre which seems to have been relegated to the lower leagues these days. Ranging from atmospheric textures through more dancefloor oriented experimentation all the way to distorted mentalism, Highpoint Lowlife is bound to have something for anyone with even a passing interest in this genre but for me the real gem in my current explorations comes from two Hungarian guys. I've not heard the original of Tigrics' Boko but the Friskfisk remix is simply stunning and up there with some of Aphex's finest moments - in fact had this come out on his Analord series from a few years back it would surely have been considered one of the standout tracks. The release notes that come with this one state that Friskfisk is somewhat reclusive, makes music for himself and his friends and has no intentions of getting anything else released - surely a tragedy if he has other moments of genius like this up his sleeve!

Tigrics - Boko (Friskfisk Remix) //HPLL035

As well as its openly experimental side, HPLL also releases more 'straight up' material such as Hot City's house rhythms or the dubtec stylings to be heard on Gravious' Futurist EP, the label's latest release.

Gravious - Jupiter Jazz //HPLL036

The final point of mention goes out to whoever's doing the mastering for these releases as, bar none, the sound quality on everything I've checked out is impeccable - not only loud but super crisp and really allowing all of the individual elements to breathe.

So, all in all, a damn good discovery and a label I'll definitely be keeping an eye on. Recent releases have all been digital only and can be purchased from the usual players such as Juno Download or Boomkat but the label also has it's own shop which you can access direct from their site.

Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts

2009-05-30T10:28:00.008Z

We're not one for blowing our own trumpets too much here at ill-ec-tro-nic but we were the first blog ever to post Moderat. That's right, back in October 2006, RAW posted a then unreleased track named 'Let Your Love Grow' which appeared on a compilation given away with the 100th issue of De:Bug magazine.

Said track went on to become an undergound anthem when it appeared on Modeselektor's second album 'Happy Birthday!'

Moderat’s formation began back in 2002 when Sascha Ring (aka Apparat) and Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary (aka Modeselektor) recorded an EP for the record label BPitch Control. The making of this release was incredibly exhausting for the three of them, and at the last minute they renamed the EP “Auf Kosten der Gesundheit” (which translates to “At The Cost Of Health”). When it came time to begin working on an album, Moderat suddenly broke up.

Skip to spring 2008 and after lots of individual successes the men re-unite and decide to continue working on their album. The three guys began by renting studio space at the legendary Berlin Hansa Studios in order to record the album in analog with the help of the studio’s vintage tube technology and an old EMI console from 1972, restored especially for them. American software designer, Joshua Kit Clayton, was hired to program a superb reverb algorithm specifically for the recording process of this album.

And it shows. So many people, myself included listen in wonderment at how Modeselektor get such a 'Phat' sound to their music. The album itself is a classic combination of the Modeselektor + Apparat sound. The former's tutonic beats are once again to the fore, but this time layered with the fuzzy synth lines of Apparat which were so evident on his collaboration with Ellen Allien.

Other influences also spring out. First track 'A New Error' sounds exactly like Boards of Canada's floaty ambience before the megolithic beats drop. Elsewhere on 'Out of Sight' the beats are pure Burial with their wood block percussion. It is no surprise that Modeselektor have been influenced by the 'Dubtec' sound and Berlin's current love for all things Dubstep.

Moderat - Out Of Sight // BPitch Control Buy

The self-titled album is also be available as a limited edition DVD produced by the Berlin based artist collective Pfadfinderei, feature music videos and more exclusive content. Buy

Wam Bam Thank You (The) Man

2009-05-30T06:15:00.002Z

Since all trace of my last post was unceremoniously removed from the interweb by the powers that be, I thought I'd just repost the excellent mix from Leo Zero.

I can only assume that David Bowie's record company didn't like Leo's superb remix of 'Moonage Daydream' as justification for taking it down. Personally I thought that it did Bowie a great service in promoting a classic track to those who may not have been aware of it. Just to let you know that Leo was also behind the remix of Lou Reed's 'Satellite of Love' and look what happened to that. Massive Hit. Lou Reed probably made a shit ton of money and it put him back in the charts. Everyone's happy.

Maybe the same thing is gonna happen here.

Leo Zero - Wigwam Mix

Three Halves Doesn't Make A Whole

2009-05-08T21:57:00.006Z

Upon seeing the flyer for Thursday's Honest Jon's party at Plastic People with it's triple header of Mark Ernestus, DJ Pete & Sleeparchive (live) I became rather excited at the prospect of seeing three techno legends in such intimate surroundings, although I did feel a little bewildered as to why this wasn't going to be on a rather more practical Friday or Saturday night.

As half of Basic Channel / Rhythm & Sound as well as a whole host of other sub-projects, Mark Ernestus' music credentials are well and truly cemented in place as it's nigh on impossible to overstate the importance of these ventures in terms of both the original productions the pair delivered as well as the ongoing influence their sounds have across a whole manner of genres today. Given that I don't recall ever seeing Ernestus listed as a DJ on flyers and the like, I had a sneaky suspicion that he wasn't going to be a four deck wizard but I felt pretty confident that he would have some damn fine records in his box. And sure enough he did, although their shine was a little dimmed by his 'no-mixing' DJ approach and somewhat haphazard sequencing and cross-fading resulting in an almost 'school disco' type awkwardness at times as the crowd waited for the outros and intros to pass so they could resume their appreciative dancing. I'm trying to tread a little carefully here as I am such an admirer of his work and he is truly in the scene's premier league but it just felt a little strange that the razor-sharp perception of space and flow that Ernestus' productions exhibit seemed to be sadly lacking from his DJing; something I'm citing as more of a surprise than a criticism. At times though, it did feel a little as if you were watching him play records for himself on a Sunday afternoon.

DJ Pete delivered a much more structured performance and for the first of his two sets, dropped a wealth of techno treats and maintained the momentum on the floor nicely. His set later in the night took things down a different path where he displayed his new-found passion for all things dubstep. The hefty bass sounded superb on Plastic People's system and sure enough he dropped some corkers but I couldn't help but sense that it wasn't really what the crowd were expecting or indeed what they were particularly wanting as the flyer had screamed 'techno, techno, techno' at them.

Techno, however, is what they most certainly got when Roger Semsroth aka Sleeparchive stepped behind his controls as his stripped down brand of clinical audiophile sonics was just what the doctor ordered. His set was the undoubted highlight of the night and I found it much more dynamic than his performance at 2008's Bloc Weekend which was the last time I saw him. My only complaint is that I wish it had gone on for longer as I was enjoying it so much.

So, all in all, it was definitely a worthwhile night to have attended but not quite the 5 hours of audio heaven I'd been hoping for.

Sleeparchive - Hospital 03
Sleeparchive - Papercup (buy)

Double Dutch

2009-04-27T20:17:00.005Z

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 "

Great Expectations

2009-04-13T16:57:00.001Z

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

Critical Mass

2009-04-12T15:57:00.005Z

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

Where Does Time Go?

2009-04-10T08:00:00.004Z

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)

Dude, Where's My Sleeve?

2009-03-29T12:29:00.012Z

As every music enthusiast knows, the ability to quickly locate a given track within their collection is almost as important as having the record there in the first place. Artwork is without doubt one of the best ways of making such a task possible and even with a (well ordered) large vinyl collection, it's easy to pick out specific releases based on spine markings. However, over the past year or so, I seem to be picking up an increasing number of records that are sold in nothing more than the flimsy paper inner and to make matters worse, many of these releases bear little more than a rubber stamped label logo rather than the usual artist and track name details.

Many of these records seem to be coming out of Berlin and are frequently associated with the Hardwax and Berghain crews e.g. MDR and Equalized although another Berlin label that really surprises me with it's lack of proper packaging is Styrax Leaves as this seems totally at odds with the care and attention that clearly goes into their artwork (not to mention the music itself).

Sandwell District is another label that's (sometimes) guilty of this too and in terms of the ueber-anonymous protagonists, Seldom Felt has clearly decided that the UK can hold it's weight against the mainland Europeans by sharing little more than catalogue numbers and a brief statement around the label's ideology.

OK, that's my moan over and in reality this is little more than a minor annoyance which can easily be resolved by picking up some sleeves from a local independent store. All that really matters is the quality of the music contained in the grooves and this is without doubt where all the labels mentioned here are right on top of their game and what keeps me going back for more of these little beauties.

Berghain-related material has been getting a lot of column inches of late and the residents seem to be gravitating towards iconic status so I figured on sharing two tracks that are worthy of similar praise although you'll have to make your own guesses about who's behind the Seldom Felt one.

Silent Servant & Kalon - Violencia // Sandwell District buy
Unknown Artist - Seldom Felt 4 (A) // Seldom Felt buy

The final part of today's post goes out to a mix that I got sent a few weeks back which takes a whole bunch of this sort of stripped down techno that I'm so fond of and splices it all together to deliver 60 minutes of warehouse style goodness. It's from a little-known known DJ called Benjamin Anon and if you like what you hear, why not pop over to his Myspace and say hi.

Benjamin Anon - State of the Art

Tracklist:

Sleeparchive - Radio [ZZZ]
Dasha Rush - Ionik (For Me Mix) [Fullpanda Records]
JPLS - Synthesis (Wax Edit) [Minus]
JPLS - Quasarlude [Minus]
Brian Aneurysm - Certify (Remix) [Ironbox]
Samuli Kemppi - Vangel [Ostgut Ton]
Function - Burn [Sandwell District]
Marcel Dettmann - Corebox [Marcel Dettmann Records]
Robert Hood - Side Effect [Music Man Records]
Len Faki - My Black Sheep (Marcel Dettmann Mix) [Figure]
Jonas Kopp - Ruido De Junio [Weave Music]
Plaid - OI [Warp Records]
Kalon - Man Is The Superior Animal [Sandwell District]
Gowentgone Remixes - ibex (Marcel Fengler Remix) [Vidab]
Regis & Female - CChaos [Dust Science]

Original Detroit Shit

2009-03-21T21:15:00.003Z

When I received a promo copy of the new Omar-S Fabric mix I could hardly wait to slap it on the stereo. Omar-S' reputation has been steadily building over the years with consistently solid releases on his own FXHE Records. Having previously only heard a few releases, including the stunning 'Grandson of Detroit Techno' and 'Psychotic Photosynthesis' from 2007, It was a treat to get a mix that was purely made up of his own tracks, a kind of retrospective mix of his work including exclusive re-edits of tracks plus a few unreleased gems as well.

The mix flows beautifully and Omar's music is quality throughout, taking inspirations from Carl Craig and Theo Parrish's productions to create House sounds which are uniquely Detroit.

The Fabric Mix is out now Buy

One track which is not included in this mix is the aforementioned 'Grandson of Detroit Techno' so I thought I'd share it with you now.

Omar-S - Grandson of Detroit Techno // FXHE Records Buy

Also Omar-S has produced another exclusive 30 minute mix comprised solely of Scott Grooves tracks in preparation of his appearance at Fabric tonight.

Omar-S - Scott Groove Mix

Tracklist:

1.Scott Grooves – Over You (Soiree/BMI)
2.Scott Grooves – The Journey (From The Studio Of Scott Grooves)
3.Scott Grooves – Old School (Unreleased)
4.Scott Grooves – Dark Blu (Natural Midi)
5.Scott Grooves – Over you (Unreleased)

Further Variations

2009-03-16T20:46:00.010Z

As their name suggests, Various Production have long since established itself themselves as an act whose musical output is not going to be easily pigeonholed and with past efforts including everything from folktronica to dubstep, each new release brings with it the anticipation of whether it's going to better their previous high points and which direction they're going in this time round.

Various' Trycycle EP is due out on March 23rd on their own eponymously titled label and sees the duo keeping their trademark heavy beats but on 'B Side' in particular, taking on board influences from the wonky / aquacrunk sound that's been gathering momentum over the past year or so. As is often the case, Ramp sees Various bring a vocalist on board and this time the honours go to V.E.X. who spits out his urban rhymes to the accompaniment of sparse percussion and playful synths. Last up is the title cut which is a rather loopy instrumental outing and while pleasant enough, it brings less to the table than 'B Side' which for me is the real gem in this package.

Various Production - Trycycle // Various Production (Vars022)

Poker Flat Competition

2009-03-09T21:26:00.009Z

This Saturday sees Steve Bug and his Poker Flat crew heading to London for a right old cockney knees up to celebrate the label's 10th anniversary.

Joining him round the Old Joanna will be Martin Landsky and D'Julz and their chosen venue of choice will be Fabric.

To help celebrate this prestigious occasion, we have some birthday treats to give away in the form of a pair of tickets for the night plus a Poker Flat 10th anniversary t-shirt and a pack of Poker Flat 10th anniversary playing cards.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is e-mail us at illectronic.blog AT gmail.com and tell us the the artist and title of the first Poker Flat release.

The competition is open to everyone and if you want the full package you're most welcome to it (assuming you win of course) but please let us know if you're not able to attend the club night and are only entering for the merchandise as we can split the booty if needed.

The winner(s) will picked at random and notified on Friday.

Full details of Saturday night's lineup can be found here.

"The only German word I know is Scheise"

2009-03-05T20:56:00.009Z

Not relating to myself as I actually studied and lived in Germany for a while but these are the opening words uttered by Kovas on CLP's Dip Shorty.

The track is from their Supercontinental album that I posted about back in January but tomorrow sees the release of the 12". It's a double A side release also featuring the other Kovas cut from the LP Homecourt. Both tracks appear in their original guises and the EP also contains remixes from Housemeister plus CLP themselves.

The digital only package also features another pair of remixes including this rather excellent offering from Unsportsmanlike which turns the original electro crunk outing into a filthy, orchestral rave monster reminiscent of Modeselektor's work - nice!

CLP - Dip Shorty (Unsportsmanlike Remix) // Shitkatapult

CLP also sent us a mix and at just shy of 90 minutes with 30 tracks along the way it's a fast-paced journey packed full of jump up party tunes.

CLP - Factory Fresh Mix

You can check out the tracklist here.

More Future Dubs

2009-03-01T23:33:00.002Z

I've been busy purchasing some brand new Dub Techno and Future Dubstep releases of late and there seems no let up in the quality of new material that is springing up out of these merging scenes. It really is a fertile time for the 'Dubtec' genre at the moment with superb releases from the likes of Scuba, STP (Shed) and T++ all gracing my stereo of late.

For this post I'm going to focus on 4 releases that have really hit it big with me.

Intrusion is one of the many aliases for Stephen Hitchell who co-runs the Echospace label out of Detroit which is the American home of all things Dub Techno. 'The Seduction of Silence' is the new album and as you'd expect it is full of classic Basic Channel inspired Dub excursions. 'Little Angel' featuring the unstoppable Paul St Hilaire is the highlight for me.

Intrusion - Little Angel feat Paul St Hilaire // Echospace [Detroit]
The CD is a strictly limited edition of 300 copies but you can buy the high quality MP3s at Beatport

Next we move into more familiar Dubstep territory and some tracks which you may have heard a lot of lately, Bad/2 Bad by Kode 9 Vs LD. This release has been getting lots of attention recently and showcases Kode 9's newer influences from the crossover Techno sound on 'Bad' and also the 'Funky' sound currently sweeping the British underground. (2 Bad)

Kode 9 Vs LD - Bad // Hyperdub Buy

Martyn was one of a handful of producers that really broke through last year and his new album released this month has many people salivating with anticipation. Martyn's metallic synth sound is very distinctive, so I was quite surprised when I heard this next track. I initially thought 'The Untitled Dub' by F could be one of his productions. However 'F' is the rather minimal moniker of one F. Aupetit, who releases material through the French label 7even

The Martyn comparisons aside, this is a seriously good slice of Techno Dubstep.

F - The Untitled Dub // 7even Recordings Buy

7even were featured on Mary Anne Hobbs' Radio 1 experimental show on Jan 13th. You can download a 30 min mix of fresh upfront 7even releases through their myspace

And saving the best til last we have a seriously good remix package that has just been released on Aus Music. 'If Alone' feat Paul St Hilaire (yes him again) by Sideshow has been given the remix treatment from Chateau Flight plus Appleblim and Komonazmuk. The very chilled out original has been transformed into a beautiful dubbed out slice of Tech House on the Chateau Flight mix but it is the Appleblim and Komonasmuk remix which is gathering much attention as they have transformed it into a straight up 140 bpm Techno track complete deep subs and a breakdown of Balearic style guitars lifted from the original.

However it is after the second breakdown about 5 mins in that this track really takes off when in comes the classic 2 step 'swing' of stuttering beats along with the metallic Techno shards, elevating this track to instant future classic status. Essential.

Sideshow - If Alone feat Paul St Hilaire (Appleblim and Komonazmuk Remix) // Aus Music Buy

One other special mention goes out to the new release from Scuba. 'Tense' is a brilliant slice of future Dubstep and follows on very nicely from the remix packages that were released at the end of last year. Scuba has done an exclusive hour long podcast for XLR8R magazine, where you can capture glimpses of his own productions plus Techno and future dub. It is one of the best mixes out there to showcase this sound.

Scuba - XLR8R Podcast

Welcome Back

2009-02-27T18:06:00.001Z

Alongside, the likes of Transmat, Warp and Underground Resistance, R & S is one of a handful of dance music labels truly deserving of the title 'legendary'. Just scrolling down their list of releases on Discogs takes an age in itself but when you start to dig around to see what's in there you really start to remember what classics they were responsible exposing to the world. Sure, the real stars are the producers themselves but the label's owners are no doubt more than a little proud of providing the homes to such greats as Beltram's Energy Flash, Jaydee's Plastic Dreams and CJ Bolland's awesome Horespower as well as classic albums from Model 500, Derrick May, and Aphex Twin plus of course not forgetting their In Order to Dance compilation series and whole host of other quality stuff.

Anyway, after having being largely dormant for the past few years, 2008 saw them come back to life by not only remastering some of their classic albums but also unleashing brand new material on the world with a 12" from Radio Slave and some remixes from the likes of Redshape and Audion for a new compilation.

As well as planning to put out more new music, 2009 sees the label finally go digital and will ultimately reissue its entire back catalogue on mp3. Given the amount of tracks to encode its perhaps not surprising that this is going to be a phased release and to help entice people on board the label is offering a free download to people joining its mailing list with promise of more offers in the future.

No doubt there was some debate within the R&S camp as to which track to select from such a quality list as the one that was going to entice people to sign up for their mailing list and while their are numerous worthy candidates, it's fallen to Aphex Twin's Xtal to provide the honey pot.

Aphex Twin - Xtal // R & S Records

Heart Strings

2009-02-22T22:58:00.004Z

A brand new album popped into my inbox from the Uncharted Audio label, home to Electronic/Indie artist Line. Line is a convenient anagram of one Neil Wells a multi-instrumentalist who resides in Nottingham and looking through his press release has been in more bands than I've had hot dinners.

'Heart' is his debut solo album and it unleashes (real) Electro beats mixed with melancholic lo-fi vocals about love and loss. Neils vocal style is very reminiscent of Tom Vek and feels raw and under-produced which contrasts with the sharp electro backing of his production skills.

Line - Lenk // Uncharted Audio

You can stream the rest of the album and order a copy over at the Uncharted Audio website.

Ghostly Force

2009-02-18T18:57:00.008Z

Rob Rives is probably best know to most people through his Floppy Sounds alias. However, like many producers he records under several names and as Phantom Power, his debut long player, Patterns came out at the end of last year. It's not really an album in the true sense of the word though as all of the tracks have been released previously on 12" between 2001 & 2007.

Given the age of some of the tracks on offer, it's relatively unsurprising that most of them have a fairly old school (techno) feel to them and while a few of the cuts do sound a little dated there's still plenty of fresh sounding tracks that will provide enjoyment to anyone new to this body of work. Most of the tracks are largely dancefloor oriented and Panawave, Can-D/Chew-Z, Mace In Your Face and Deconditioning are the ones that found particular favour with these ears.

Phantom Power - Deconditioning // Clicktracks

The CD is available at Boomkat and Juno still has some of the 12"s in stock too.

A Different Dub

2009-02-09T21:04:00.006Z

Following on nicely from Langer's genre blurring dub excursion I'm going to keep things on a similar line for today's post but while The Dubtec Mix was characterised by a sense of dark foreboding, Brendan Moeller's Beat Pharmacy project takes dub in a largely different direction.

Instead of the usual laid back style of either traditional or techno infused dub, Beat Pharmacy's Wikkid Times LP presents the reggae grooves in more unfamiliar house style territory. All bar one of the album's tracks features a guest vocalist and duties are provided by familiar names in the likes of Spaceape and the living legend that is Paul St Hilaire but while the silky vocals carry their usual resonance the end product is more of an uplifting vibe than usual.

Strangers is definitely one of the album's more downbeat numbers and if truth be told, I think the more atmospheric side of dub-tinged electronics is where my heart really lies...or maybe it's just that the template set out by Rhythm & Sound was just so damn good!

Beat Pharmacy - Strangers (feat. Spaceape) // Deep Space Media buy

Rhythm & Sound - King Version // Burial Mix buy

The Dubtec Mix

2009-02-02T16:30:00.005Z

It has been quite a while since I contributed any kind of mix to the blog so I wanted to showcase the increasingly blurred lines between the Techno and Dubstep scenes. I put together this mix way back in September 2008 for Soliton Research and it brings together a lot of my favourite tunes that made it it into my 2008 Hot List.

It is now time to unleash it to a wider audience and to spread the word of the 'Dubtec' sound.

The mix was put together in one take with no rehearsals. Enjoy.

Langer - The Dubtec Mix // SRM06

Tracklist:

01 | Andy Stott - Massacre
02 | Substance - Relish (Shed Remix)
03 | MLZ - M-Brane
04 | Pan-Pot - Crank
05 | Substance & Vainqueur - Libration
06 | Rhythm & Sound - Dem Never Know (Sleeparchive Remix)
07 | Appleblim & Peverelist - Circling
08 | Martyn - Vancouver
09 | The Village Orchestra - Afanc (2562 Remix)
10 | Peverelist - Junktion
11 | 2562 - Techno Dread
12 | Martyn - Suburbia
13 | TRG - Broken Heart (Martyn's DCM Remix)
14 | Zomby - Spliff Dub (Rustie Remix)
15 | Skream - 2D
16 | Moderat feat. Paul St Hilaire - Let Your Love Grow

Can You Feel Obama

2009-01-25T12:44:00.004Z

If, like me you were one of the billions watching the presidential inauguration on Tuesday you couldn't help but feel the gravity of the event and all it symbolised. The comparisons with Dr Martin Luther King standing in the same spot in 1963 are obvious but Obama's speech was a more sombre and subdued affair than either Dr Kings's or his own victory speech in Chicago back in November.

Now again in comparison to the great civil rights leader, The president's speech has been put to the classic Chicago House track by Larry Heard. 'Can You Feel It'. Poignant Indeed.

Mr Fingers - Can You Feel It (Barack Obama Edit) // Gameplay

Sharp Corners, Solid Grooves

2009-01-23T11:01:00.003Z

I don't really know much about Circlesquare so when Fabric sent us a mix through, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Opening with an excerpt from a 'This Mortal Coil' track the mix soon moves into tasty synth territory but then we're back with another section of the TMC track before moving onto a touch of techno (incorrectly listed as an October production on the tracklist below as I'm pretty sure it's by Emptyset). The repeated use of the excerpts continues throughout the mix and everything from Drexciyan electro through to psychedelic folk is thrown in along the way. Calling this a mix isn't entirely accurate though as the eclectic track selection means that nothing more than segues are possible in several parts. However, the track selections have been carefully thought out and despite the disparate genres the 'mix' flows well and the minimal amount of beat matching does little to detract the overall enjoyment of the end product.

Circlesquare - Flavour Mix

1. Thais II (excerpt) – This Mortal Coil
2. Lovin Machine (Iko) – Glass Candy
3. Thais II (excerpt) – This Mortal Coil
4. Doxa – October
5. Dancers – Circlesquare (Konrad Black remix)
6. Thais II (excerpt) – This Mortal Coil
7. Lather – Jefferson Airplane
8. Mookid – Aphex Twin
9. The Sailor in Love With The Sea – The 6ths
10. Let Me Be Me – The Other People’s Place
11. Rain – Tones On Tail
12. De Papel – Matias Aguayo
13. Listen, Move, Dance – October
14. Up The Hill Backwards – David Bowie
15. Thais II (excerpt) – This Mortal Coil
16. Music For Satellites – Circlesquare
17. Thais II (excerpt) – This Mortal Coil

As if by some remarkable coincidence, Circlesqaure happen to be playing live at Fabric this Saturday as part of K7!'s showcase in room 2. They're accompanied by Swayzak, Trevor Jackson and Terry Richards and other acts on the night include Dave Aju playing live which is no doubt going to be something quite special to behold. You can check out the full lineup here.

Fabric's long running mix series is also making a flying start to the year, with installment no. 44 being one of the best I've heard from them in a while. Mixed by John Tejada, it's a serving of minimal(ish) techno containing several of his own productions as well as a healthy dose of other releases from his Palette label. The mix has a strong Berlinesque sound aesthetic with white noise percussion and thick slabs of analogue synth being present throughout. This theme is exemplified through the inclusion of two anonymous cuts from the Hardwax camp that came out last year, namely WAX10001 and Equalized001. While the artists behind these productions remains a mystery, this hasn't stopped both of these records gaining significant praise and while I don't disagree with this, Equalized001 is just a little too repetitive in my book and its usefulness is limited to a short sharp burst as exhibited here by Tejada.

I'm not sure if it's intended to promote his Fabric mix but Tejada has also just done a mix for FACT which in many ways is like a shortened version of his new CD, containing as it does, two of the key ingredients from Fabric 44. This time however, it's Equalized002 that's being used and a different cut from Orbital's back catalogue.

John Tejada - FACT Mix 24

You can pick up the tracklist for the FACT mix here and buy a copy of Fabric 44 here.

Spooky Celebrations

2009-01-20T11:56:00.001Z

Ghostly International's sister label Spectral Sound is celebrating its 50th release with a compilation that comprises highlights of every one of those 50 releases. That's right kids you get a whopping 50 tracks for under a tenner plus a bonus Megamix of the catalogue by Derek Plaslaiko!

The compilation is sequenced chronologically, opening with Spectral’s first release “Irreparably Dented” by a then-unknown DJ/producer named Matthew Dear. In his Audion guise Matthew Dear went on to have the labels biggest hit with the monstrous "Mouth To Mouth". A remix by Heartthrob is included in the package. Other artists include James T. Cotton’s acid-house experimentation, Osborne’s smooth retro-disco, and Kate Simko’s elegant minimalism. Bodycode and Peter Grummich both deliver jacking Techno beats, while Daso's subtle retro Tech House gives a warm edge. Basically there is Techno of all shades on this release and everyone will find something to get into.

Matthew Dear - Its Over Now // SPC - 11

Osbourne - In Gear // SPC - 20

Bodycode - Bounce Back // SPC -37

The full release of 50 mp3s and the megamix is available at Beatport and Turntable Lab

Resident Advisor are giving you the chance to win the first 50 vinyl releases from the Spectral back catalogue. The question is tough. What band’s vinyl-sleeve design inspired the original Spectral stock jackets? Enter the Competition.

Orchestral Maneuvers

2009-01-17T16:27:00.000Z

Glasgow based Stuff Records have been responsible for some of the most out there, ground breaking releases to come out since Warp records first came onto the scene in the last Millennium. Warp records respect them so much that they have signed Rustie, the Glasgow wunderkind after his first two EPs for Stuff and being signed by the label is now seen by many as a stepping stone onto greater heights.

So we were filled with much excitement when Stuff sent through their latest release for our starving ears to review.

The Village Orchestra or TVO as he is sometimes known is the Techno nom de plume of Ruaridh Law, The Dark is Rising is a new mini album + EP which brings together elements of old skool Hardcore, Detroit Techno, Warp Electronica and the Techno/Dubstep crossover which has been championed on these pages many times.

2562 has been chosen to remix 'Afanc' from the EP and his mix is superbly spacious track, half dubstep and half Chain Reaction Heroin House.

The Village Orchestra - Afanc (2562 Remix) // Stuff 006

The first 200 records are accompanied by a CDR of the mini album, The Dark is Rising and this reverts to the more familiar territory of subtle atmospheric Electronica, perfect listening material for the early hours.

The EP and mini album should be released shortly through the usual outlets.

The Village Orchestra - The Grey King // Stuff Records

I couldn't leave without giving you a slice of the genius of Rustie, the young scamp, that with his releases have put himself and Stuff Records firmly on the musical map. 'Soapy Tits' is taken from the Beatnicks Vol 1 EP released in 2007 on Up My Alley Records.

Rustie - Soapy Tits // Beatnicks Vol 1 EP. Up My Alley

Booty Call

2009-01-13T19:42:00.008Z

Prior to hooking up to record together in 2006, both Chris De Luca and Phon.o had already made their mark on the musical map with De Luca in particular having become a well known name as half of Funkstoerung. Having initially combined their solo names to give title to their joint venture, the pair now release under the somewhat snappier moniker of CLP. Their debut album, Supercontinental, dropped at the end of last year and sees a number of guests sharing vocal duties on top of the pair's electro-tinged hip hop beats.

Compared with many other releases on Shitkatapult the album is a rather euphoric affair and probably isn't going to be lapped up by those that like their music dark and moody. However, like most things that grace these pages, there's definitely a time and a place for this kind of booty shakin' fun.

CLP - Superconfidential (Feat. Tunde Olaniran) // Shitkatapult 2008

Phon.o's solo output was a little more techy so for those with a penchant for things a touch darker (and dirtier on the lyrical front) here's something from his earlier solo album.

Phon.o - Trick or Treat // Shitkatapult 2005

There's a CLP live set available from their website and you can buy Supercontinental from the usual outlets including Juno or on mp3 from Zero ".

Right On Cue

2009-01-05T19:58:00.006Z

Only days after stating that my end of year charts were merely the best records I'd heard last year did I finally discover the identity of a track that sent shivers down my spine the first time I heard it and true to form it was indeed a 2008 production and most definitely worthy of (a very high position in) my 'best of' list.

Danton Eeprom's 'The Infinity Symbol' is quite simply a slice of sheer electronic brilliance that starts out as electro by numbers before quickly introducing the disjointed synth that forms the backbone of the track's 8 minute journey which takes in such a staggering number of ideas including strings, effects and a sublime Claro Intelecto style melody that it simply shouldn't work but ends up being an absolute triumph of genius!

I've not heard of Danton previously but a quick check of his myspace reveals that he has a tidy pile of quality productions and remixes under his belt - one to keep an eye on me thinks!

I came across Infinity Symbol at the end of Marcel Fengler's mix for mnml ssgs and it was indeed the perfect ending to an excellent journey. Fengler is one of the residents at the Berlin's Berghain so needless to say the mix in question is a fairly no-nonsense techno affair. It seems that mnml ssgs has been going around a year or so and it has somehow managed to escape my gaze until now. However, this error in my ways has now been resolved and they are most definitely on my radar as the guys over there not only have keen ears but have somehow managed to rope in some seriously high caliber DJs for their rather prolific and extremely high quality mix series. I suggest those of you not already in the know head on over there and fill your boots without delay.

Danton Eeprom - The Infinity Symbol //Tsuba

The Infinity Symbol appears on the Tsuba Samuari EP and you can buy a copy on high quality mp3 at Beatport.

RAW's 2008 Roundup

2008-12-31T13:57:00.009Z

Love them or loathe them, end of year lists are something there's simply no escaping from and while such things are at best subjective they usually provide a few surprises, a little fun and a few new bits and pieces for the inquisitive to go and investigate. Unlike last year, I've actually managed to compile my best of's before the year's out and in doing so it's reminded me what a great year it was for electronic music...again! Langer's already done a tidy little summary of the year that was and as our taste's are fairly closely aligned I see little need to add anything further. As per my earlier comment, there's bound to be those of you wondering why some things rate so highly on these lists while other undeniably great tracks don't feature at all. Aside from the variance in people's taste's I simply put this down to the fact that there's just so much good music being produced that there's just not enough hours in the year to hunt down and listen to every last gem that's out there but as ever with these things if you think there's quality music that we've totally overlooked then we'd love you to set us straight so we can go and check it out for ourselves.

Tracks of 2008:
1. Bjork - Dull Flame of Desire (Modeselektor For the Girls Remix) // One Little Indian
2. Zomby - Spliff Dub (Rustie Remix) // Hyperdub
3. Redshape - Blood Into Dust // Styrax Leaves
4. Voltaic - Abyss // Point One Recordings
5. Jus Wan - Action Potential // Apple Pips
6. Darkstar - Squeeze My Lime //Hyperdub
7. Martyn - Vancouver // 3024
8. Jus Wan - The Crossing // Tube 10 Recordings
9. Substance - Relish (Shed Remix) // Scion Versions
10. Hud Mo - Ooops! // Wireblock
11. Likhan - Daoine Sidhe - 7Even Recordings
12. Ben Klock - October // BPitch Control
13. Minilogue - Cow Crickets & Clay // Cocoon
14. Jus Wan - Flashpoint // Tube 10 Recordings
15. Martyn - Suburbia // Apple Pips
16. Datashat - Stop The Message (Widescreen Edit) // Handsette
17. Blue Vitriol - Cryovolcano // Jahtari
18. TRG - Broken Heart (Martyn's DCM Remix) // Hessle Audio
19. Intrusion - Tswana Dub (Brendon Moeller's Beat Pharmacy Dub) // Intrusion
20. Darkstar - Need You //Hyperdub
21. Gowentgone - M.A.M. (Marcel Dettmann Remix) // Vidab
22. Simon Baker - U // Cocoon
23. MLZ - NewAnalogueCentury // Modern Love
24. Datassette - Damage Report // Ai Records
25. Minilogue - In A Distance // Cocoon
26. Shed - Estrange // Ostgut Ton
27. Shackleton - Death Is Not Final // Skull Disco
28. Skream - 2D // Tempa
29. T++ - Audio 1985#8_2 // Apple Pips
30. Emptyset - Endoxa // Caravan
31. Kode9 vs. Ld - Bad // Hyperdub
32. Pangea - You & I // Hessle Audio
33. Thom Yorke - Skip Divided (Modeselektor Remix) //XL
34. Rootah - Holy Mount // Jahtari
35. DJ Mujava - Township Funk // Warp / This is Music
36. Scuba - Ruptured (Surgeon Remix) // Hotflush
37. Dave Aju - Crazy Place (Luciano «Likuid» Remix) // Circus Company
38. Scuba - From Within (Marcel Dettmann Remix) // Hotflush
39. Nanorhythm - Third Day // Soliton Research
40. Nanorhythm - Sith Lullaby // Soliton Research

Albums of 2008:
1. Minilogue - Animals // Cocoon
2. Datassette - Datassette // Ai Records
3. Andy Stott - Unknown Exception // Modern Love
4. Scuba - A Mutual Antipathy // Hotflush
5. Radioactive Man - Growl // Control Tower
6. Shed - Shedding The Past // Ostgut Ton
7. Anders Ilar - Sworn // Level Records
8. Headhunter - Nomad // Tempa
9. Distance - Repercussions // Planet Mu
10. Third Man - Clarion Call // Ai Records
11. Starkey - Ephemeral Exhibits // Planet Mu
12. Claro Intelecto - Metanarrative // Modern Love
13. Aether - Artifacts // Exponential Records
14. Ital Tek - Cyclical // Planet Mu
15. 2562 - Aerial // Tectonic
16. Hot Chip - Made In the Dark // EMI
17. Housemeister - Who Is That Noize // All You Can Beat
18. B12 - Last Days of Bilence // B12
19. Extrawelt - Schoene Neue // Cocoon
20. Michna - Magic Monday // Ghostly International

Mixes / Compilations of 2008:
1. Robert Hood - Deep Concentration: The Grey Area Mix // M-Plant
2. Fuse Presents - Deetron // Music Man
3. Marcel Dettmann - Berghain 02 // Ostgut Ton
4. Jahtarian Dubbers Vol 1 // Jahtari
5. Sampler Zero Eight // Ai Records
6. Appleblim - Dubstep Allstars: Vol. 06 // Tempa
7. Soundboy's Gravestone Gets Desecrated by Vandals // Skull Disco
8. Ame - Fabric 42 // Fabric
9. Greg Wilson's 2020 Vision // 2020 Vision
10. Andrew Weatherall vs The Boardroom // Rotters Golf Club

Artists of 2008:
1. Martyn
2. Rustie
3. Marcel Dettmann
4. Datassette / Datashat
5. MLZ

The Hot List 2008

2008-12-31T12:59:00.006Z

Its been an interesting year for electronic music, it can be argued that the established sounds have waned in favour of new emerging styles. If some authors are to be believed 2008 sounded the death knell for Minimal Techno. Certainly this year Minimal has been lacking in inspiration and ideas. However Techno will survive and reinvent itself as it has done countless times over the last 20 years. 2007 was the year when Dubstep finally broke through into the world's consciousness, but by 2008 it was in danger of becoming just as formulaic as Minimal with the endless stream of 'Wobble' basslines getting heavier and more aggressive.

However it was the convergence of Dubstep and Techno which has given 2008 its most exciting sound. DJs such as Appleblim have pioneered the Dubstep/Dub Techno sound and producers from Leeds to Rotterdam via Berlin and Bucharest have produced new hybrids which will take the genre to new levels. Dutch producer Martyn has easily captured my 'Producer of the Year' award because of his innovative melding of the metallic shards of Basic Channel with 2 Step rhythms in his own productions and remixes that makes up no less than 4 tracks out of my current top 20 biggest records of 2008

This new hybrid however has still has yet to have a catchy name, my effort back in May, 'Dubtec' has still to catch on but I live in hope. My 'Hot 40' this year reflects my current love of this new sound and proves that after 18 years of listening to Electronic music it can still inspire me and surprise at the same time.

The 'Hot 40' Tracks of 2008

01. TRG - Broken Heart (Martyn's DCM Remix) // Hessle Audio
02. Martyn - Suburbia // Applepips
03. Appleblim & Peverelist - Circling // Skull Disco
04. Peverelist - Junktion // Tectonic
05. Zomby - Spliff Dub (Rustie Remix) // Hyperdub
06. Martyn - Vancouver // 3062
07. Simon Baker - Plastik (Todd Terje's Turkatech Mix) // Playhouse
08. Audion - Billy Says Go // Spectral Sound
09. Bjork - Dull Flame Of Desire (Modeselekor's Remix For Girls) // White
10. 2562 - Channel Two // Tectonic
11. 2562 - Techno Dread // Tectonic
12. Pangaea - Router // Hessle Audio
13. Flying Lotus - RobertaFlack (Martyn's Heart Beat Remix) // Warp
14. The Village Orchestra - Afanc (2562 Remix) // Stuff Records Promo
15. Hercules & Love Affair - Blind (Hercules Club Mix) // DFA
16. Simon Baker - U // Cocoon
17. Henrik Schwarz, Ame, Dixon - D.O.P.M.B. (Version 1) // Innervisions
18. Mujava - Township Funk (Ashley Beedle's Africanz on Marz Re-Edit) // This Is Music
19. Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes (XXXChange Remix) // Lizard King
20. M.I.A - Paper Planes // XL Recordings
21. The Long Blondes - Guilt (Pantha Du Prince Remix) // Rough Trade
22. MLZ - M-Brane // Modern Love (Released Dec 2007)
23. Basic Soul Unit - Tunnels (Sebo K & Metro Remix) // Mule Music (Released Dec 2007)
24. Jesse Somfey - Fricative White (From a Whisper to a Scream) // Archipel
25. Substance - Relish (Shed Remix) // Scion Versions
26. Syclops - Where's Jason's K // DFA
27. Skream - 2D // Tempa
28. Shackleton feat Vengence Tenfold - Death Is Not Final // Skull Disco
29. Jus Wan - Action Potential // Applepips
30. Scuba - Ruptured (Surgeon Remix) // Hot Flush
31. Scuba - Twitch (Jamie Vex'd Remix) // Hot Flush
32. Shed - Estrange // Ostgut Ton
33. Rustie - Zig Zag // Wireblock
34. Sufjan Stevens - To Be Alone With You (Pocketknife's Considerate Eagle Scout Remix) // Flagrant Fowl
35. Beck - Gamma Ray // XL Recordings
36. Del Shannon - Gemini (Pilooski Edit) // Dirty Recordings
37. Datashat - Stop The Message (Widescreen Edit) // Handsette Recordings
38. Le Sarge En Board - Through The Robot Chicken Shed // Rotters Golf Club
39. King Midas Sound - One Ting (Dabyre Remix) // Hyperdub
40. Tiga - Mind Dimension 2 // Different

Hot Albums of 2008

Santogold - Santogold // Lizard King/Atlantic
Hot Chip - Made In The Dark // EMI
2562 - Aerial // Tectonic
Shed - Shedding The Past // Ostgut Ton
Scuba - A Mutual Antipathy // Hotflush
Headhunter - Nomad // Tempa

Hot Compilations / Mixes

Dubstep Allstars Vol 6 - Mixed By Appleblim // Tempa
Pocketknife & Cousin Cole - Tambourine Dream (Unmixed) // Flagrant Fowl
Skull Disco - Soundboy's Grave Gets Desecrated By Vandals // Skull Disco
Andrew Weatherall Vs The Boardroom // Rotters Golf Club
Fuse Presents Deetron // Music Man
Luciano - Fabric 41 // Fabric

Have A Psychedelic Christmas

2008-12-20T11:56:00.003Z

Wishing everyone a very Psychedelic Christmas from the ill-ec-tro-nic.

Peace.

Rotary Connection - Silent Night Chant // From the Album 'Peace' 1968

Texan Melodies

2008-12-15T21:44:00.002Z

Exponential Records is an independent label based out of Texas and since it's foundation in 2002 it's been putting out a steady stream of tasty electronica by a variety of largely Hispanic artists.

The label was co-founded by Ernest Gonzales and this year saw him re-release his 2004 album Lullaby. Originally put out on CD under the alias Theory of Everything, Lullaby was inspired by the news that Ernest was to become a father and upon describing the thought process behind the project, Ernest explains "I wanted to make music for my baby to fall asleep to...my original idea was to create peaceful sleep inducing music and what came out is very dreamlike and electronic." The 2008 version is a digital-only re-release and features six of the seven original tracks plus a new one from Ernest and remixes by some of his friends. The new versions are in line with the mellow sounds of the original compositions and I'm sure the gentle melodies of both the old and new cuts are still helping to soothe his daughter to sleep and will continue to do so for many years to come.

Ernest Gonzales - Run Jump Seek (Zoon van snooK Remix)

In it's thirteen release history, Exponential has put out two compilations and we featured the excellent Wait til the Ice Melts back in April this year. Aether's Forgive Me was included in the post but this time around he gets an even bigger share of the limelight as its his debut LP, Artifacts, we're talking about. Having already been picked out on iTunes weekly indie spotlight, we clearly aren't the first people to notice the strength of this release and if melodic hip hop / electronica is your bag then you're gonna be in for a treat! Aether, real name Diego Chavez, has a whole host of other musical aliases and by all accounts he's rather busy on the production front so if he keeps knocking out quality work like this, this young man is definitely going to be one to keep an eye on.

Aether - Autumn Pisces

Exponential releases can be bought from iTunes as well as direct from the label itself.

The label also offers a whole host of tracks for free download.

Sneaking In There

2008-12-10T12:50:00.007Z

I have just come across two albums which have managed to sneak their way into my consciousness just before the inevitable end of year roundups. Albums from both Shed and Scuba had escaped my ears earlier in the year but I'm very glad I've caught up with them now.

I became aware of Shed after the excellent remix he did of Substance's 'Relish' back in July, but didn't do any more digging for his other releases. Thankfully Boomkat pointed me in the right direction placing 'Estrange' as one of their tracks of the year. Upon hearing this gem I then sought out the excellent album 'Shedding The Past' which was released back in September on Berlin label Ostgut Tontrager, which when translated bizarrely means 'Ostrogoths Sound Carrier'!!? Despite the Ostrogoths being a tribe of East Germanic Goths from the Roman Empire days, this is an album of dub infused Techno and Electronica. 'Estrange' is the highlight for me with its mournful synths and future steppa drum patterns.

Shed - Estrange // Ostgut Tontrager Buy

Substance are one of the artists contributing a mixes for a series of remix 12"s of 'A Mutual Antipathy' the excellent album by Scuba released back in April of this year. Other artists brought in to mix selected tracks are Dutch Dubstep wonderkind Martyn and Berlin's Berghain resident Marcel Dettmann

Substance bring's his usual deep Berlin Dub Techno style to proceedings but it is the two mixes by Jamie Vex'd and Surgeon which are the undesputed highlights for me. Vex'd goes so far leftfield on his mix of 'Twitch' that that he his positively off the chart, combining big sub bass with wonky synth work and stuttering beats, reminding me of Jackson and His Computer Band's best glitchy work. Essential. Buy

Surgeon's effort bridges the Techno/Dubstep divide like no other track I've heard. It has the pumelling beats of his best Techno work, but has the undeniable swing of great 2 Step and Dubstep. The 'Is it Techno or Dubstep?' lines have become really blurred on this one. Superb.

Scuba - Ruptured (Surgeon Remix) // Hotflush Buy

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