Top Ten Tracks of 2009

Better late than never, right? I hope so. 2009 was a tipping point in electronic music. After being maligned for the better part of 5 years, house music has risen somewhat surprisingly with help from minimal techno’s early adopters. In a bizarre quid pro quo, producers most often associated with house music started to go a bit minimal. The two camps have met in the middle and recorded some of the best deep and tech house tracks of the last decade.

On with the countdown.


Chopstick & Till Von Sien – Bachkippe (Baalsaal)
Buy it now here or here.
Anchoring this year’s Kitchen Heat Top Ten is a track from the Chopstick & Till Von Sein’s single-sided, and ironically titled, Ten EP. Chopstick (aka Chi-Thien Nguyen) and Till Von Sein are minimal techno guys on a minimal techno label (Baalsaal) who have applied the minimal techno approach to what are typically house sounds. “Bachkippe” revolves around a two-note guitar loop and a one-note bassline with the changes being made mostly by the occasional organ stab and the ticks and tings of the percussion. The breakdown comes in at just the right moment with what sounds like a wind instrument (a flute?) recorded in such a way that one can hear the musician’s breath blowing through it. It’s a subtle detail that really drives home the organic sound of the instruments, effects and arrangement. “Bachkippe” is the kind of track that, while sounding deceptively sparse, is so groovy that you can’t help but nod your head, tap your toe, or shake your ass.


Dragosh – Aloo Ma Auzi (Bearweasel’s Linear Drum Edit) (Viva)
Buy it now here or here.
Londoners Dean Muhsin & Louisa Page write and produce wonderfully dubby tech house under the name Bearweasel. In this case they’ve taken a middle-of-the-road tribal tech house track and maximized its potential with a bit of re-arrangement, a groovy bassline and some well placed horns. Just like Bachkippe, most of the ear-candy is in the layered percussion. While the hypnotic driving bassline propels the track along, congas, rimshots, a bunch of different snare drums and mouth-clicks keep things interesting in the mix.


Ian Pooley feat. Tim Fuller – What I Got (Derrick Carter Remix) (Pooledmusic)
Buy it now here or here.
“What I Got” is deep. Pooley blends Tim Fuller’s falsetto over a funky synth bassline, lush pads, bleepy gated lead, and string-inflected rolls for the kind of deep house one usually associates with Ron Trent, Miguel Migs, and Masters at Work. It’s good, but not great. The real reason to pick up this 12” is the Derrick Carter remix. Carter is one of the second wave of great underground house producers from Chicago who made his name in the 1990s producing amazing remixes for European artists. On this remix he dispenses with all but the vocal, underpinning it with a funky, shuffling drum track. What’s interesting about the track is the lack of sounds: it is literally a beat, a 303 squiggle through a low-pass filter and someone panting low in the mix. That’s it! And yet both the remix and the dub seem to have so much to hear. Remixes like this show just what can be done with a less-is-more approach to arranging. Minimal techno could learn a thing or two from Derrick Carter.


Andrea Festa feat. Mike Dunn – The Sound Of Lugano (Hardfloor Remix) (AF Records)
Buy it now here or here.
I’d never heard of Andrea Festa prior to my search for Terrence Parker material back in September. It would appear that Mr. Festa wrote a bunch of mediocre house tracks and then contacted as many house and techno legends from Chicago, Detroit, and Germany as he could think of to remix said tracks. The list really is a who’s-who of electronic music since the 80s: Mike Dunn, Terrence Parker, Hardfloor, Woody McBride, Terrence Dixon, and Max Durante. Those who were receptive did their work admirably and Mr. Festa set about releasing the results. “The Sound Of Lugano” is the second 12” to be released from the compilation CD. In truth, Hardfloor do all the heavy lifting, substituting their 303 magic for Festa’s house clichés. And it is especially good Hardfloor 303, too. Quite possibly the best thing they’ve done since their remix of Blue Monday, in fact. With any luck, this spells a return to the fray for Dusseldorf’s 303 masters.


Superslut – Bulerias (Great Stuff)
Buy it now here or here.
I’ve written about Great Stuff’s Munich Discotech compilation series before, albeit a completely different track. I had originally bought the record for the Pooley/Tonka track on the A-side. It wasn’t until I flipped it over one night that I discovered the techno genius of “Bulerias”. With one foot planted in the future with a stomping techno undercarriage and the other planted firmly in the past with a chopped up flamenco guitar, “Bulerias” would sound contemporary with any techno track written in the last 30 years. It’s the flamenco claps and guitar that really set it off. That’s a triumph in my eyes, as most examples of fusion between ethnic and electronic usually end up sounding like that Cumbria track from a couple of years ago: elevator music with a backbeat. Superslut’s catalogue is limited to a couple of remixes and this one track. Hopefully "Bulerias" is a sign of things to come.


Sonny Fodera – Resurrection (Guesthouse)
Buy it now here or here.
Adelaide, Australia’s funky house DJ and producer Sonny Fodera has really come on in the last year. With a slew of remixes and releases under his belt, he is an up-and-comer to watch in 2010. The best of the bunch, in my view, is his Sonny Side Up EP on American label Guesthouse. Resurrection’s old-school vibe seamlessly blends house, hip-hop, and funk in a deliciously refreshing confection that kicks the emotional crap out of any of the bitter electro crap released this year. It’s so funky, you just can’t help but groove to it.


Spencer Parker – Untitled Head (liebe*detail)
Buy it now here or here.
Englishman Spencer Parker makes the kind of minimal house that is starting to come into vogue in places like Germany. “Untitled Head” is little more than a thundering drum track, gliding bassline, and chopped up female vocal. Really, though, the magic is all percussion; the vocal is just “uh-uh” and “duh-duh” sounds syncopated to work as extra drum hits. Like the Derrick Carter remix, it’s amazing that there seems to be so much to hear and yet the track is made of so little. More proof positive that 2009 was about “less-is-more”.


DJ Dealer feat. Typhanie Monique – Is You Is (Look At You)
Buy it now here or here.
Chicago DJ Greg Diehl has been making house for well over a decade. After releasing a couple of tracks on Mindfood and Subliminal, Greg kicked off his own label, Look At You and hasn’t looked back. Is You Is has a real classic Chicago house feel with a three-note bassline, Hammond organ and smokey vocal. A simple mid range band-pass on the vocal gives the track a bluesy, 1950s vibe, while the Hammond provides a bit of thickness to the mix. Again, a simple arrangement makes for an incredibly effective song worthy of the top five.


Michael Jackson - Stanger in Moscow (Jerome Isma-Ae Remix) (white label)
Buy it now here or here.
Late in 2009, progressive house juggernaut Jerome Isma-Ae put out a single-sided white-label featuring two remixes; Way Out West’s Only Love and Michael Jackson’s Stranger in Moscow. I’d never heard the original Stranger in Moscow, but apparently it was released as a single from the HIStory compilation/album. In his tribute to the fallen star, Jerome takes the best and most emotive parts of the vocal and lays it over a monster of a progressive house track. It’s a real hands-in-the air affair, the kind of song that was once so popular at clubs and raves across the globe but has lately fallen into disfavour. It’s so close to being my favourite that part of me thinks it should be a tie for record of the year.


La Roux – In For The Kill (Lifelike Remix) (Kitsuné)
Buy it now here or here.
La Roux’s gotten lots of press for her retro 80s Flock-Of-Seagulls hair and analogue sound. I’m a big fan of analogue, but most of her stuff sounds harsh and leaves me cold. Lifelike gets it right, tho. His remix is the perfect balance between classic analogue synths and modern dance music arrangements. His remix makes La Roux sound soulful instead of harsh and the chorus is so emotive it makes you close you eyes, throw your head back and grin like an idiot. In my view, it’s the best thing that came out last year and I'm looking forward to hearing more from both artists.

PooleyCarterTonkaBrazil

It’s been awhile since we had a record review on Kitchen Heat, so let’s have a look at some of my recent favourites courtesy of partners-in-crime Ian Pooley and DJ Tonka.

Tonka and Pooley were schoolmates in Mainz, a city near Frankfurt. Along with contemporaries Mousse T and Boris Dlugosch, the pair have redefined the German electronic aesthetic from one of cold techno and cheesy trance towards the warm sounds of the funkiest house. Tonka became known for his disco-breaks sound, while Pooley’s sound bridges the gap between techno and house. To be fair, both artists have broadened the scope of their palettes in recent years forging roads into the other’s territory.


Ian Pooley feat. Tim Fuller – What I Got (Derrick Carter Remix) (Pooledmusic)
Buy it now here or here.
“What I Got” is deep. Pooley blends Tim Fuller’s falsetto over a funky synth bassline, lush pads, bleepy gated lead, and string-inflected rolls for the kind of deep house one usually associates with Ron Trent, Miguel Migs, and Masters at Work. It’s good, but not great. The real reason to pick up this 12” is the Derrick Carter remix. Carter is one of the second wave of great underground house producers from Chicago who made his name in the 1990s producing amazing remixes for European artists. On this remix he dispenses with all but the vocal, underpinning it with a funky, shuffling drum track. What’s interesting about the track is the lack of sounds: it is literally a beat, a 303 squiggle through a low-pass filter and someone panting low in the mix. That’s it! And yet both the remix and the dub seem to have so much to hear. Remixes like this show just what can be done with a less-is-more approach to arranging. Minimal techno could learn a thing or two from Derrick Carter.


Tonka – Orca (Ian Pooley’s Orca Mallorca Remix) (Great Stuff)
Buy it now here or here.
Tonka’s “Orca” is straight-ahead techno of a sort that has fallen out of fashion amongst all but the ‘heads: Driving drum track, one-note bassline, ray-gun lead and pitch-bent siren. The title comes from the manner in which the siren is bent so as to suggest whalesong. It’s a departure for Tonka, to say the least, and it could definitely benefit from a bit of his former disco-break polish. Thankfully, Ian Pooley steps in to give it some of his patented funk. Keeping only the siren, Pooley adds quiet pads, a ticking clavier, a beeping one-note lead and a nice round bassline to give it a shot of urgency missing from the original.


Ian Pooley vs. Zoo Brazil – Reader (Tonka Remix) (Pooledmusic)
Buy it now here or here.
Pooley teamed up with prolific Swedish producer Zoo Brazil on this one. What they produced is a split 12” with one version Pooley’s (deep house), one version Brazil’s (tech-house), and Tonka’s remix. Someone had the forethought to put Tonka’s remix on the A-side, and rightly so as it takes the best bits of the other versions, cross-breeds them and comes up with the techno stormer that Orca tries to be and more. In addition to the “Oh-oh-oh-oh” vocal present in both Pooley and Brazil versions, Tonka adds some string pads and a Ferris Bueller sample: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” The sample’s relaxed message is in smirking contrast to the percussive bassline, driving backbeat, and oh-oh sample, giving the track the kind of subtle, delicious irony not often seen in modern dance music.

Pooley and Tonka seem to have learned real lessons from the current popularity of minimal techno. Less is more and focus on the mix. It’s the kind of thinking that will keep me listening, that much is certain.

Kitchen Heat Chart

I discovered a fun little feature of the Juno Records website: Creat your own Chart. So I did one.



I'll try to update these after each public appearance, so watch for a new one on Monday.

Favourites From 2008

With the demise of a number of big distributors, there are those who will undoubtedly refer to 2008 as the year vinyl died. I prefer to think of it as separating the wheat from the chaff. In the future if the track isn’t absolutely top quality, it’s simply not going to see a proper record release, and I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. As it was, there were an awful lot of top-notch tracks that dropped last year. These are ten of my favourites.


Steven Lee & Gaby Dershin – Exit Row (Pirupa & Ruggero Remix) (C2)
Buy it now here or here.
C2 consistently put out quality records from the likes of Danny Howells, DJ Pierre, Eric Prydz, and Steve Angelo. This year, they have two in my top ten and two more that just missed the cut. This collaboration by veteran collaborators (Steven Lee is half of Lee-Cabrera, while Dershin is half of duo Astro & Glyde) features plucked strings over a chugging bassline. The original is good, but the remix is better. By adding another, percussive bassline underneath the original bassline and dispensing with the super-long breakdown, relative unknowns Pirupa & Ruggero make the track that much more propulsive. Whenever my mix needed to gather a bit of steam, this is the record I reached for.


Shed – Warped Mind (Ostgut Ton)
Buy it now here or here.
2008 will also be known as the year when minimal techno really came out. Labels like liebe*detail, Get Physical, and Areal all made big splashes this year, but the tsunami came from Berlin producer Shed. With a penchant for odd time signatures and unique track structures, “Warped Mind” is probably his most accessible track in recent memory. In keeping with the auditory aesthetic of minimal techno, “Warped Mind” is an elegant track, consisting of little more than a filtered synth line over skittery percussion. And yet, as with most of the genre, there is something about it that moves the hips and nods the head.


Kaskade & Deadmau5 – Move For Me (Deal)
Buy it now here or here.
I’ve written about this track before and, thankfully, it’s lost none of its immediacy. Even though it is the only Deadmau5 production I’ve enjoyed all year, it’s still a great track and the ‘mau5 is in my top ten for the second year in a row.


Renato Cohen – Magica (Sino)
Buy it now here or here.
Every now and then, Brazilian techno star Renato Cohen drops a couple of brilliant techno stormers into the laps of Hong Kong label Sino. He did it in 2003 and again in 2005. This year he dropped off one driving techno classic (b-side “Power”) and one tech-house masterpiece (a-side ”Magica”). Both tracks are elegantly simple, with the latter being a slightly better track than the former. “Magica” marries a looped vocal sample with an acid bassline and a high-low, pitch-bent electro-bass. The loop extols the listener to “Save my Life!” which, when combined with the pitch-bent bass, creates the kind of adrenaline-inducing vibe most often heard in jock jams like Gary Glitter’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll (Part 2)”. “Magica” works best as what I think of as a transition track; one that transitions from a lower to a higher state of floor energy. In that context, it simply can’t be beat.


My Federation – Don’t Wanna Die (Eye Industries)
Buy it now here.
There aren’t very many so-called Indy-rock bands that incorporate the house/techno sound palette into their songs with any grace or consistency. These types of bands tend to display a great deal of distain for all things electronic, despite the fact that punk bands these ingrates tend to idolize owe just as much to dub reggae and disco as they do to 50s rock. My Federation would appear to be the exception rather than the rule. The title single from their excellent album “Don’t Wanna Die” sets the tone for the whole album. It’s punk with an acid bassline. The icing on the cake is the glorious 3-part harmony on the chorus. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then for god sake pick up this slice of 7” gold. If those are all gone, then go get the CD.


Murk Presents Liberty City – If You Really Love Someone (Paul Woolford’s 11 Minutes of Magic) (C2)
Buy it now here or here.
Miami-based duo Murk has been in the game a long time. They’ve been making house since the early 90s under a plethora of pseudonyms. You might know them from classics by the likes of Funky Green Dogs or Mission Control or Interlude or Interceptor or Deep South or Coral Way Chief or, indeed, Liberty City. “If You Really Love Someone” was originally released was originally released in 1994 under Twisted Records sub-label TRIBAL and is considered a classic. The real story here is not Murk; it’s Paul Woolford. Ordinarily, I have avoided putting remixes and redoes of classic tracks in the round-up because they tend to be luke-warm versions of the original; a Malibu Stacy with a new hat. Just occasionally, however, an accomplished producer can take a classic and make it their own. “If You Really Love Someone” is a pretty menacing track to start with. The hissy percussion cuts through the three-note bassline like a knife, while Shauna Solomon’s layered vocals wails over top of it all. Woolford dispenses with everything but the vocal, adds a growling, pulsing bassline over some 909 drum sounds and manages to simultaneously make the track more propulsive and more ominous. Even its extended length (11 minutes!) isn’t an issue as Paul changes things up just enough to keep things rolling and stop the listener from tuning out. Woolford’s output has been spotty at best in the last few years, but this remix places him firmly back in the pantheon of great producers.


Oliver Koletzki vs. Parker Frisby – The Is So Fuckin’ Oldschool (Stil Vor Talent)
Buy it now here or here.
Don’t let the title fool you: Oliver Koletzki wrote and produced all four of these gems. Even though the track list credits A-side tracks “Since You Are Gone” and ”This Is So Fuckin’ Oldschool” to Koletzki and B-side tracks ”Street Life” and ”Brain Against Heart” to Parker Frisby, it’s obvious to the listener that they’re all the same guy. The title is accurate in one regard; these tracks would fit nicely in sets from both 2008 and 1998. ”Street Life”, for example, sounds like a Samplitude-era Olav Basoski track. What ties the EP together is the percussion. The same drum palette is used in all four productions with varying degrees of success. Of the four, I slightly favour “Since You Are Gone”, closely followed by ”Brain Against Heart” simply for the interaction between the chosen drum sounds and clean piano/keyboard melodies. In terms of bang-for-your-buck, you can’t go wrong with this EP.


Wagon Cookin – Mallorca (Sasse Remix) (Compost)
Buy it now here or here.
Apart from the time-signature, I’m not even sure there’s anything left of the original in Sasse’s remix of “Mallorca”. Regardless, I have been digging that bassline since this record dropped in February. The filtering applied is just perfect for head-nodding and hip-shaking. My only complaint is that that the track ends…oddly. After the break, that awesome bassline just drops completely out and you’re left with only the drums and the synth chords. If you’re not paying attention, it’s a real letdown, but if you’ve got another bassline waiting it the wings, it’s gold.


Andomat 3000 – BND2 (Four:Twenty)
Buy it now here or here.
Andomat 3000, a.k.a. Andreas Wiegand, has been recording as DJ Mahatma since the turn of the millennium. I can understand why he came up with the new moniker because his previous output consists almost entirely of hardcore techno/Schranz; certainly nothing like this minimal jewel. The combination of the shuffle percussion and stand-up bass loop provides “BND2”s groove, while the occasional trumpet call and ululating yell evokes the image of outlaws huddled around a campfire in a Tex-Mex desert. Even the title is a clever contraction of the word “bandito”. Even Kiki’s utterly pointless remix serves to underline the genius of original. Out of all the artists listed in this round-up, Andomat 3000 is the one to watch.


The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix) (Modular)
Buy it now here or here.
I wrote about “Golden Cage” 5 months ago in The Lost Post (Summer Ingredients) and it’s still golden. Fred Falke doesn’t put a foot wrong on this remix. The sparkling melody, the pulsing bassline, the pitch-bent synths, I love it all and it is far and away my favourite record of the year.

Anyway, keep watching this space. I’ve got a bunch of things in the works, including some upcoming shows and record reviews. Not to mention a new mix that may include a few of the tracks listed above. All set to drop in the next couple of weeks. Until then, keep buying records.

Favourites from 2007

The general blogosphere consensus seems to be that 2007 was another gray year in terms of new music. Personally, I don’t agree with that sentiment at all. Even now I have almost 30 releases sitting in my Juno wishlist. In my view, there was more good music released this year than in the past 3 or 4 years combined. I know one thing for sure: this year’s top 10 was the hardest I’ve ever had to put together and a significant number of great records by the likes of Agoria, Ada, Kinky Movements, and Eric Kupper were left behind.

It is nice to see some Canadians in the list, too. Being a Canuck myself, of course I have a soft spot for my fellow countrymen, but I honestly feel both records rose above all the others. And so, without further ado, here are my picks for the best records of the last year.

Miguel Migs - So Far (Eric Stamile’s Old School Revival Dub) (Salted Music)
Buy it now here or here.
I had originally wanted this track to appear on my second Dissensus Cassette Swap offering as it would have fit in perfectly with the theme. Alas, the postman did not ring in time. Eric Stamile takes Migs Latin guitar original and infuses it with some much needed 80s retro-synth action. LT’s (aka Aya aka Lysa Trenier) breathy vocal matches beautifully with the saw-tooth synth chords and combined with the grumbling bassline makes for a sexy groove. The cowbell in the background is a nice touch, too.


Partial Arts – Trauermusick (Kompakt)
Buy it now here or here.
I’ve written about “Trauermusick” before. The only thing I can think to add is that I still love the original, while the Alter Ego remix now grates.


Deadmau5 – Not Exactly & Faxing Berlin (Mau5trap Recordings)
Buy it now here or here or here or here.
Kind of a tie for eighth spot, but not really as they're both Canadian producer Deadmau5 tracks. I’ve been having this argument with myself for a while now: is Deadmau5 trance (shudder) or electro? Trance isn't all bad, I guess; I always liked the warm, melodic chords. The one thing I love about the recent crop of electro releases is that genre–defining, farting, squelching bassline. Deadmau5 has both in spades and combines them to greatest effect in these two tracks.


Tyken – Every Word (Hed Kandi)
Buy it now here or here.
Many critics seem to have a hate on for Hed Kandi. I guess I can understand that, as they seem to have been largely responsible for the recent crop of compilations distastefully slathered with hyper-stylized, headphone wearing, cartoon nymphs. Compilations aside, Hed Kandi really do seem to have a credible stable of house tracks at their disposal. “Every Word” by Swedish duo Tyken is a stellar example of the kind of house Hed Kandi are pushing. The electro bassline grinds in the background, while the filtered, burbling keyboards swing along with the vocal and strategically placed whooshing samples and synth stabs build the energy to a screaming crescendo. It’s perfect peak-time fair, guaranteed to plaster grins and raise hands.


Romain Curtis & Ceeryl – Psycho (Spinnin’ Records)
Buy it now here.
Dutch label Spinnin’ seem to be something of an enigma: they put out a dizzying array of test-pressings, white-labels, and CD singles, as well as being the parent for at least a dozen smaller labels and yet seem to fly completely under the popular radar. This 12” is a classic example. Released only as a test-pressing, it is the best bit of driving electro I’ve heard all year. Little more than a pulsing, hypnotic bassline and a blippy little synth phrase, “Psycho” keeps going and going, without the listener ever getting tired of it. I cannot for the life of me understand why this isn’t huge in the way that Alter Ego's "Rocker" was.


Jamie Woon – Wayfaring Stranger (Burial Remix) (Live Recordings)
Buy it now here or here.
Up until I recently discovered this remix, I had been largely unimpressed by the output of inscrutable London producer Burial. This track, however, is the very definition of remixing genius. Taking the re-arranged folk song “Wayfaring Stranger”, as performed by John-Mayer-sound-alike Jamie Woon, and turning it into a menacing, pulsating, nightscape track evoking not so much a performer onstage as a lone driver singing along with the sound-artifacts generated as the city rolls past the car window. Every time I listen I hear something new and I can scarcely imagine how many audio tracks were assembled into this one remix. A must for quality headphone listening.


Parov Stellar – Rock For & Love (Etage Noir)
Buy it now here or here.
Another recent find that I am sorry I missed the first time. I have often thought that the bluesier (Is that a word?) side of electronic music is largely ignored by producers. Everybody seems to settle on soul, reggae, and funk, while leaving the slower tempo blues stuff on the cutting floor. The notable exception is, I suppose, Moby’s album “Play”, although “Play” dispensed with most, if not all, of the instruments and focused almost exclusively on the gospel/blues vocals. Austrian label boss Parov Stelar (aka Marcus Füreder) successfully mixes blues with house and comes up with two first-rate tracks for this 12”. “Rock For” uses a looped vocal reminiscent of Billie Holiday, couples it with a simple piano riff and a muted trumpet, which I’ve just realized is one of my favourite sounds, and throws down a stomping track that is equal parts house, jazz, and blues. B side track “Love” is even better with stomping breakbeat, pulsing 303 line, chopped up male gospel vocal and, yes, jazz guitar. So good I am literally itching to play it out.


Daft Punk – Television Rules The Nation/Around The World (Live Mix) & Primetime Of Your Life/Aerodynamic(Live Mix) (white label)
Buy it now here or here.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year, you know all about Daft Punk’s triumphant world tour and accompanying live album “Alive 2007”. This particular 12” surfaced at the end of July and includes two allegedly live mixes in the mash-up style of the “Alive 2007” disc. After listening to both releases side-by-side, the 12” is either an excellently executed fake or it’s the real deal. Either way is irrelevant, I suppose, as both tracks are phenomenal mash-ups containing vocals and instrumental samples from a number of Daft Punk tracks, the most obvious of which are listed above. Track it down, you can thank me later.


Chromeo – Fancy Footwork (Guns N’ Bombs Thizzmix) (Backyard Recordings)
Buy it nowhere or here.
Canadian duo Chromeo have turned in a fantastic album (“Fancy Footwork”) and a string of fun and funky singles. American outfit Guns N’ Bombs give the best track on the album the Kitsuné electro noise it was missing and turn it into a grinding dancefloor freak-out of gigantic proportions. Inexplicably, this, the best remix in the current bunch of singles, is only available on the promo double 10” or CD.


Basement Jaxx – Make Me Sweat & Cool It (Atlantic Jaxx)
Buy it now here or here.
I haven’t bought a Basement Jaxx record since the “Rooty” days. Nothing from “Kish Kash” or “Crazy Itch Radio” did anything for me at all. So, when a yellow vinyl double A-side on their label Atlantic Jaxx, as opposed to their usual home XL Recordings, passed my nose I thought, “Maybe they’ve gone back to their roots (no pun intended)?” And they HAVE! "Make Me Sweat is little more than an acid bassline, some well-placed woo-woos, and a female vocalist (R-O-X-A-N-N-E) exhorting the listener to, "Make me wet, make me sweat!" The second A-side "Cool It" is just as stripped down, with just congas, whistles, vocals and some fun little piano interludes. Despite their sparse instrumentation both tracks have that indefinable energy typical of early Jaxx singles and both work equally well as warm-up and peak-time records. A true return to form for Basement Jaxx and my favourite record of the year.

Favourites From 2006

2006 was a pretty tough year for the DJ. There weren't really many records released that sounded fresh or different 100 other records one already has in one's crate. After a year of scouring the message boards, podcasts, and daily Juno emails, these are ten that caught my ear.

Sebastian Leger feat. Gia Mellish – Hypnotized (Royal Flush)

I’m not usually one for vocals, but, as you’ll soon see, this year I seem to be a sucker for the sound of a beautiful voice. Does that mean I’m getting old, I wonder? Dunno. What I do know is that Sebastian Leger has crafted a dirty little rump-shaker with Gia Mellish’s vocals over funky hand-claps, farty bassline and delayed synth wash. Good, solid electro-house with just a smidge of French luxuriance thrown in for good measure.

Emmanuel – Pretend (Beat Cult’s 6th Avenue Vocal) (white)

Ah, the analogue synth sound. Often overdone these days, but Beat Cult (whoever they are) keep it simple with just the vocal and that pulsing analogue-y synth sound. I especially like the “la-la-la”s in the break.

My Robot Friend – Rapture (Soma)

An odd little track, the lyrics consist of cut-and-paste syllables from type-and-speak software. This may seem gimmicky, but in fact it forces you listen more closely, piecing the puzzle together, trying to appreciate the bigger picture. I’m not usually one who pays attention to lyrics, so when a song forces me to do just that I consider it something of an achievement.

Ellen Allien & Apparat - Way Out (Bpitch Control)

The gloomy string sounds, grinding minimal bassline and guitar feedback would make for devastated dancefloors on their own; throw Ellen’s multi-tracked, delayed-to-distraction vocal on top and the track is elevated to the sublime. This should have been the song that broke minimal to the mainstream.

Trick & Kubic – Easy (Data)

Breathy, slightly European-accented vocals on the top and a groovy bassline thundering away underneath; it’s as simple as that. Lyrically, the track is somewhat trite in its belief that change (one’s life, the world) is easy, but when coupled with the uncomplicated groove, I can almost believe it.

Nelly Furtado – Maneater (Geffen)

The harmonies! The harmonies! Double, triple, octiple tracks of layered harmonies; it’s like a hip hop Bohemian Rhapsody in there. Timbaland works his magic with a less-is-more approach to the instrumental beneath Nelly’s phenomenal vocals. With little more than beats and bleeps as the undercarriage, those harmonies more than fill in the spaces.

Kelis feat. Too $hort – Bossy (Alan Braxe & Fred Falke Earth Out Remix) (Virgin)

French label mates Alan Braxe and Fred Falke apparently have the same contempt for Kelis that I have. The remix dispenses with all but the breathy bits and then launches into the kind of old-school synth work-out that we’ve come to know and love from the French. Then they threw in a DJ E-Z-Rock-era “woo” sample on every other bar and voila! A masterpiece!

Pet Shop Boys – Psychological (Ewan Pearson Remix) (Parlophone)

The standout track on the excellent Fundamental gets a little help from the best remixer in the business. Pearson keeps the vocal, chucks the rest away, and comes up with a sinster (is that a harpsicord I hear?) acid monster that sounds straight out of a horror movie soundtrack. Danceable and yet even more menacing and unsettling that the original, it’s the best thing he’s done since "Strict Machine".

Alexkid – Nightshade (Rodriguez Junior Mix) (F Communications)

Alexkid seems to have a knack for pairing sparse acid sounds with female vocals. See 2003’s “Come With Me” and 2005’s “Don’t Hide It” for other stunning examples, which coincidentally also feature Lissette Alea, . I prefer this remix over the original only because Rodriguez Junior has added a few gently oscillating pads here and there, making it just a little sweeter.

Kleerup feat. Robyn – With Every Heartbeat (Risky Dazzle)

Is it my favourite because I just discovered it? Has the novelty yet to wear off? Maybe, but it’s one of those tracks that leaves you wishing there was more of it. Lots of low-end, melancholy pads, lush strings (Eat your heart out, Trevor Horn), earnest carpe-diem vocals…more, more, MORE!