Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Splash the Cash
Following on from my previous post about vinyl enthusiasts, I can only assume that this is exactly who Cocoon target their annual 'Compilation x' boxsets at (either that or the rich or slightly mad) as paying fifty quid for half a dozen 12"s in a box is a bit beyond my comprehension really. Cocoon's 2008 offering, Compilation H has recently been released and while I have no major gripe with the music on offer and 6 (import) 12"s would cost somewhere in this region, I can't imagine that many people making that much use of all 12 sides. Thankfully, the compilation is also available as a (regular price) CD and in this form it's a worthy purchase for anyone wanting to increase their collection of dancefloor friendly house and techno. The artist selection reads a bit like of who's who of contemporary techno with input from the likes of Raudive, Mark August, Efdemin etc. Most of the cuts are solid but for me it's Simon's Baker's 'U' that really owns it with a trademark builder that unleashes a wonky synth from it's echo chamber confines - nice!Simon Baker - U
Most of you will no doubt know Baker from his gargantuan 'Plastik' that came out last year and for those of you that haven't heard this it's definitely one to seek out. It's just been remixed by Todd Terje and rather than trying to turn it into an even bigger speaker shaker he's decided to take it in a totally new direction by giving it a laid back disco feel. I haven't heard the new version in full yet but you can check out a sample and pick up a copy at Phonica.
Pick up a copy of Compilation H on CD at Play or if your piggy bank is about to burst then you can get a vinyl copy at Juno.
Labels: Cocoon Recordings, Efdemin, Mark August, Raudive, Simon Baker, Todd Terje
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
A Fine Beast
Promise of a Minilogue album has been brewing for a while now and after 3 years in the making it's finally dropped. What's perhaps more impressive than the actual delivery finally arriving is that unlike many such elongated projects this one's actually worth the wait! Furthermore it'll take you a fair while to fully absorb it as the CD version is spread over two discs. Disc one (and the vinyl version) contain the dancefloor cuts all of which are in techno / minimal groove and contain plenty of pops, clicks and jackin' rhythms to keep you nicely interested. Tracks are structured rather than just loop-based; a format which gets further room to grow in the fact that the CD version is a seamless journey from start to finish so tracks build nicely up and down again as they blend smoothly into one another.Disc two continues to deliver on the consistently high quality but this time things are focused squarely on armchair raving as these are chilled out vibes, some of which are totally beatless. Additional discs of this nature often end sitting on the sidelines but after several listens of this one the beauty of the tracks is still growing rather than fading for me and this disc easily stands up as a quality long player in its own right.
So folks, in case you hadn't guessed, I'm rather smitten with this particular opus and am eagerly awaiting the restock of the vinyl version at my local record emporium!
I've posted a cut up from each of the discs below but these are only promo versions so come with a nice lady reminding you of this. You can pick up a proper copy of here.
Minilogue - Cow, Crickets And Clay (Promo Version) //Animals LP (Cocoon Recordings)
Minilogue - Six Arms and One Leg (Promo Version) // Animals LP (Cocoon Recordings)
Labels: Cocoon Recordings, Minilogue
