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.

The cold light of Monday morning

Cartoon courtesy of Savage Chickens.

Seven weeks into the Open Turntable's run at Element and we had more DJs through the door than people. How sad is that? Attendance has been declining ever since we started on February 1 (60+ paying customers), but we've always had a core of 10-12 who at least put in an appearance.

Not yesterday.

Yesterday, we had a grand total of six (6) people who came out to witness the musical craftsmanship of the 7 attending DJs. And it was on, too; everybody was in top form.

To add insult to serious injury, plastered all over facebook today are the pics of those regulars giving it hell on the dancefloor the night before in the very same bar. I'm glad they had a good time, but could they not spend an hour and drop by the following afternoon. Apparently not.

As you can see, I'm finding it hard not to take this all personally. The thing is that a bad day like yesterday can spell the end of an endeavour such as OTT. I mean, it is entirely possible that Element's Sunday Club spun its last record at 8pm, March 15th, 2009.

The irony is that next weekend they'll all be bitching because there's nothing going on. Such is the fickle nature of the crowd.

Some Stormin' Sets

Despite cancellations by Shonaman, Kraker, and Deuce because of the impending storm, Sunday night turned into a real treat for the ears. Everybody, including me if I may be so bold, was in tip-top form. Nexus6ix and Bolivia both put on mixing clinics, with Bolivia pulling off the fastest track drop I have ever seen. EVER. It's a pity only a few people were there to hear it. Due to the sickness of Farmer Shawn there is no recording, so they're the only ones who will, too.

Don't miss out again. Make sure you stagger down this Sunday, 2pm-8pm.

...memories...all alone in the strobe light...

Not so successful show at A Khord. We had maybe a dozen people through the door to hear Kardinal Syn open. I went on at midnight as planned. I was two records deep, looked up and everybody was gone. WTF??? Apparently, they all left with the Kardinal. Almost a year after my last engagement at A Khord, I repeated my performance by playing for the barstaff.

It's times like this when you really start second guessing what you did. I don't think I played enough records to have driven people out, but there's always that nigling bit of doubt, that nasty little person at the back of your head screaming themselves hoarse that you played the wrong records or that nobody showed up because they already know you suck. Most of the time I can tell that vindictive motherfucker to shut his mouth. After watching people walk out on your set, however, it's tough to ignore those very real possibilities. By the time I'd arrived home, I'd almost decided to drop off all my records at the Salvation Army and sell my turntables for scrap. That may sound like the petulance of a child, but you have to appreciate that I've been DJing in one form or another since 1999. That's ten (10!) years, for anybody who's counting. If I'm not good enough now, I have to think that I probably never will be and that is about as sobering a thought as anyone will ever have.

As with many things, the light of day lends a clarity to the situation. I dragged my ass from bed on the low side of the morning and stumbled to my "studio" with every intention of packing up the whole works. But, I couldn't do it. As it turns out, I love it too much to quit. If I never play another show in public, that's OK with me, as long as can still make my monthly record order and play for the freezer and the water heater in my "studio". If the music that I love still has a place in my life, then all is right with the world.

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.

The Lost Post

For some unknown reason, the August 10th post intitled "Summer Ingredients" has disappeared from the blog. Is it a blogger issue? Did I delete it by accident? It's a mystery. Thankfully, the Google Cache has saved my bacon and I'm able to repost it below.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Summer Ingredients

We moved. Again. Same city, just down the road in fact, but it was still quite an undertaking. Not the least of which is all those little jobs a new house requires. Like mowing the lawn. I haven't had to mow a lawn since moving from Nova Scotia, and now I have to mow twice a week just to keep up with the growth brought on by all this rain. And I'm here to tell you, nothing makes you appreciate new music like mowing a lawn. Especially vocal tracks with a bit of hands-in-the-air whooshy-ness. Here are a few of my current favourites.


The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix) (Modular)
Buy it now here or here.
A gloriously sparkly remix by frenchman Fred Falke. I always kind of assumed that Alan Braxe was the real genius behind past Braxe & Falke remixes, but it's clear I was very much mistaken. Sorry about that Freddie; you certainly hold your own. Back to the track: I'm not sure if it's the pitch bent keys in the melody or the minor chords of the rhythm line, but FF's remix makes me want to tilt my smiling face into the sun. He takes what is otherwise po-faced guitar song about being trapped and turns it into a kind of bitter-sweat anthem to summer flings. You cannot lose with this one, sunrise, midday, or sunset.


The Presets - This Boy's In Love (Lifelike Remix) (Modular)
Buy it now here.
Another Modular record! I've been watching the Presets since their Blow Up EP five (5!) years ago and I have to say these guys are doing it right. The original track is genius all on its own. The tenor/bass verses and falsetto chorus make for the kind of ear-candy that has me singing along even when the song's not playing. Lifelike (another frenchman and Vulture Falke-alike) injects a bit of bounce to the somewhat dire original. The over-compressed chorus along with the wonderfully squelchy melody combine for maximum whoosh!


Kaskade & Deadmau5 - Move For Me (Deal)
Buy it now here or here.
Written by San Franciscan Kaskade and produced by Canada's own Deadmau5, it's hard for me to judge the separation of duties. It sounds more like a Deadmau5 track, except for the exceptional vocals (performed by one Haley Gibby). Regardless, the track feels more like a lament than the typical techo/trance stormer we've come to expect from both Kaskade & the 'mau5. I've been feeling a bit blah about Deadmau5's stuff lately; too much bombast and not enough soul. Not the case here. The lyrical couplets "Move for me/I'll move for you," and "Another night out/Another dance floor," sound like the groan of a DJ who's been on the road for too long or the cry of the rave casualty so jaded that they're begging the DJ to bring back the rush of the early days/years. That their weariness can be expressed so succinctly is what makes the track great. In fact, the raw emotions expressed elegantly is what makes each of these three records great and is, I think, what's been missing from the current trend towards the minimal. There's just too much tech out there, and not enough soul.

Pinkpenny Promo

Earlier this month I passed an important milestone (well, important to me at least): I received my first slice promotional music.

Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that I didn’t start this blog, or DJing for that matter, to get free music. I started DJing because I wanted to listen to good music at the parties/clubs I attended. I wish I could say that at all charitable, that it was about sharing great music and giving my friends and fellow party-goers a good time, but no, it is entirely selfish – I quite simply could not stand what was being played and decided that if I wanted to hear anything else, I was the one who was going to have to play it. One can only listen to so much Great Big Sea before one yearns for fiddle-free music. I started this blog as simply a vehicle for my mixes. I wanted people to listen to what I was doing and so set up this site as a place to host online links to my mix archive and announce any live gigs that I might be doing. Since I started it, it’s taken on a bit of a life of its own with editorial content largely consisting of record reviews. Records I bought myself, I might add. It does what it was intended to do, I suppose; it lets those who care know what’s happening with my DJ “career” (a term I use ever-so loosely), but it has never lead to any paying gigs or promotional swag. That is until now.

Pinkpenny records is a net label based in Devon, UK. They sent me, and presumably others, links to two mixes of “You Know Where Your Going” [sic] by TC, a remix by Mr.Vinyl and the original mix. The original is a downbeat track best described as “chilled”. It consists largely of a synthesized saxophone over a warbling synth, melodic washes and a nice stand-up bassline. The original is good; I’ve played it for a few people and it got their heads nodding to the groove. Definitely worth a download.

The Mr. Vinyl remix is an up-tempo version of the original. Mr. Vinyl has dispensed with the saxo-synth, augmented a staccato piano riff, thrown in a gated copy of the synth wash for drama and replaced the stand-up bass with a typical, bouncing, progressive bassline to give the track a bit of thump. As in the case of the original, this mix is effective; good but not great. Competent is actually the word that leaps to mind.

Overall, I think the original works marginally better as a track that the remix, but I’d certainly play both if only they were on vinyl. If only. I guess I shouldn’t complain too much, though. Digital promos are better than no promos at all.

Beware the Ides of March...almost.

It is a sad thing to be present for the end of something you thought was good and pure. Last night at A Khord I played three hours worth of delicious vinyl for...the barstaff. That's right; not a single patron walked through the doors from 10:30pm until we shut it down at 1:30am. The novelty has apparently worn off and now the fickle audiences of Saint John have moved on to other, lesser events. I'm told that the engagement at A Khord ends on March 27th and there will not be a renewal. I for one will be very sorry to see a club night in such a spectacular space come to a crashing halt.

No recording, I'm afraid. The left-hand turntable had a short in the audio cable and it was causing some dire distortion. It wasn't a total loss, though, as it kept me entertained trying to choose records that could handle a bit of additional distortion. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.

Tender Cuts - February 2008

As I noted in my round-up a couple of months ago, there were some serious contenders left off of my top ten. After spending a bit more time with these records, I feel they are deserving of more recognition than a mere mention.


Tracey Thorn - Grand Canyon (Ada's 1st Dub) (Virgin)
Buy it now here or here.
I was surprisingly underwelmed by Tracey Thorn's recent album Out Of The Woods, considering that most of it was produced by remix genius Ewan Pearson. In fact the only tracks on the album that raised my blood at all were produced by Martin Wheeler ("Easy") and Alex Santos ("Grand Canyon"). On the strength of those tracks, and because I love the sound of Tracey's voice, I kept an eye out for the singles. It's All True yielded a decent disco-inflected effort by Martin Buttrich that, I swear, is on every minimal mix I came across at the end of last year. The real gem, though, showed up on the second 12" for "Grand Canyon". Areal Records regular Ada turned in both a softly pulsing remix and a dub. The backing track is essentially the same for both, but the dub dispenses with all but the most soulful sections of vocal and, for my money, is the sweeter of the two.


Tone-Loc - Wild Thing (Peaches RMX) (Delicious Vinyl)
Buy it now here.
And now for something completely different. It's hard the imagine how one could improve on Tone Loc's 1989 pop-smash "Wild Thing", but I guess Peaches thought she could. To my shock, she hits it just right. As anybody who has heard the song knows, "Wild Thing" is a catalogue of encounters with sexually aggressive women. Written entirely from the male perspective on these fantastical events, Peaches shrewdly realized that she was in the perfect position to fill the other side of the equation: that of the sexually aggressive female. She adds a couple of explicit verses, subtly tweaks the sample to give it that electro-house sound and "Wild Thing" is born again. Track it down, you can thank me later


Eric Kupper - Electrikiss (Nite Grooves)
Buy it now here.
Eric Kupper's career spans the last 20 years of dance music and beyond. Starting as a keyboardist for the likes of David Morales, Frankie Knuckles, and Arthur Baker in the early 80s, Eric has been doing mostly remix work for the last 15 years. Checking his remix credits reads like a who's who of electronic music. All that aside, Mr. Kupper’s most recent effort, the “Faith Healer / Electrikiss” double A-side, is exactly the kind of keyboard work-out you’d expect from someone with chops like Eric’s. The one-note bassline pulses away underneath melodic pads while the melody sparkles on the top. The whole track puts me in mind of practically any scene from Blade Runner, and in fact would fit very nicely next to any the pieces from Vangelis’ score. That’s probably why it appeals to me so much; the track has that atmospheric quality that transports the listener to another place and time.

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.

Way Back When III

I’m still processing the events of Saturday night/Sunday morning, but I have to say it was an incredible night. Lots of kind words from staff, patrons, and the two veteran DJs in attendance. It was a tag-team approach with Sonny D, Tommy Knuckles and your’s truly switching out every 30-40 minutes. My sets felt good, solid, and the selections seem to have been a hit on the dancefloor. People were dancing at any rate. Things didn’t start to go awry until my last set, between 5 and 5:30am. I was having real trouble concentrating and the mix just didn’t lock in the way it should have. I may have been the only one to notice, however, because everybody kept dancing and I didn’t catch any of the verbal insubordination reserved by ravers for train-wreck mixes.

What amazes me most about the night was the friendliness and camaraderie between all who attended. When one goes out at night to an event such as this in other cities, one invariably sees various illicit activities and/or forms of casual violence. This is just accepted; with the good comes the bad. That was not the case at Way Back When. With what I would consider a skeleton staff, consisting of the two co-promoters, co-promoter’s husband, male and female pat-down people, one huge bouncer (who was late), and bartender, they managed to pull of a night that was visibly thug-free and drug-free (Not to say that there wasn't any drug, you understand, I just didn't see any).

What made the night even better was that Deb was able to come with me. Through the kind generosity of my parents, who stayed with the kids all night long, we met lots of great people and danced our asses off between my sets. I can't wait for the next one.

Partial Arts

I've been super busy over at the FLC. It's not as simple keeping something like this moving as one might think. Regardless, some fresh cuts are long overdue so here's a few quickies.

Partial Arts - Trauermusik [Kompakt]

My first Kompakt record! I feel excited and dirty all at the same time. Wait, that didn't come out right... Oh! I've done it again...

For those who don't know, Partial Arts is actually DJ/Producer/Remixer extraordinaire Ewan Pearson and long-time collaborator Al Usher. The monnicker "Partial Arts" has only been used on a handful of releases and remixes, among them 2002's Canopy and recent remix of Audiofly's "Miscalate". "Trauermusik" is their first release on the Kompakt imprint and hopefully represents a turning point in the duo's collaborations. Partial Arts productions of the past have been sparse affairs, often little more than drums and bleeps, but "Trauermusick" is a step in a far more plush direction.

The track opens with a bell synth patch oscillating from ear to ear and quickly developes into minimal bleepiness. That's a good thing, though, as it fits in with what has to this point been the Partial Arts aesthetic. The rhythm track explodes with what Ewan has desribed in interviews as "cannon fire". The track continue to layer minimal elements on top of on another until the burbling electro bassline sneaks in at the 2:16 mark. Things get really dramatic when everything is faded down to low frequency pads. And thats when the cello kicks in (I never saw that one coming. Seriously.).

On The b-side, Alter Ego pump those low frequencies for all they're worth and force out the kind of electro-house work-out we've come to expect from the the makers of "Rocker". It's not as good as the original, though. Ewan and Al really have crafted a wonderfully melancholy track that chills you and lifts you all at the same time. It's the first Kompakt release I've heard that has an ounce of heart and, dare I say it, soul.

Stealth Second Thought

Ever since I took over organizing the Dissensus Cassette Swap (AKA Ferrite Love Connection) I’ve become obsessed with updating the CSS template for both that blog and this one. The templates are now done and should be up in the (relatively) near future. More about that later; this post is about my “vacation”.

Last week I took my family home to Nova Scotia over my kids’ March Break. We’ve been here in New Brunswick for several months now, and they were keen to get home and see some of their family and friends. Personally, I could care less; my parents and siblings have made a concerted effort to come and visit us since we moved. My wife’s family, however, has made it clear that they are unwilling to make the journey and, if we cared about their feelings at all, we should bring the children home to visit as often as possible. So, last Friday we made the five hour journey to Nova Scotia.

Over the course of the journey, particularly after listening to the dialogue of the Cars movie playing on the in-car DVD system ad nauseum, I made a mental note to check out my boxed up CD collection for possible return trip listening. For those who don’t know, radio stations in this part of the world play either country music, classic rock (i.e. rock music made between 1969 and 1980 with selected hair-metal cuts from the 1980s thrown in for “freshness”), or talk news/sports. The situation is desperate to say the least. Ordinarily, I would have overcome this with a couple of burned CDs made especially for the trek. Unfortunately, between work, kids, my new CSS obsession and sleep, time was limited and those discs just never got finished.

During the following week I was stricken with a virus so insidious that it laid me low for almost the entire span. While I felt awful, it did give me the opportunity to explore my CD collection, something I haven’t done since I stopped buying CDs in favor of 12” singles five years ago. (Perhaps I’ll delve more deeply into the change-over some other time.)

The most surprising find was Leftfield’s Rhythm and Stealth. I bought Rhythm and Stealth in 1999 based on the strength of Leftism’s big hit “Open Up” I was still getting my feet wet with house, trance (yes, trance!) and techno in the late 90s and was hungry for whatever I could lay my hands on. Like most of the critics at the time, Rhythm and Stealth left me cold. It’s not as flashy or synth-y as most of the other electronic CDs I had been exposed to previously. I recall discarding it with a resounding “meh”. I can’t tell you why it didn’t end up in the local used CD store. Perhaps I was taken with the cover art.

Flash forward 8 years, through a brief flirtation with drum ‘n’ bass, a passing interest in UK garage, and a continuing obsession with repetitive, filtered French house. From dub to dubstep, I’ve heard an awful lot of electronic sounds and programmed beats since 1999, and after all of it I can say with absolute confidence that Rhythm and Stealth is a classic.

The biggest critical complaint lodged against Rhythm and Stealth seems to be that it isn’t Leftism Part 2, despite the fact that Leftism was met with equal distain when it was first released. I would argue that Rhythm and Stealth’s real strength lies in its departure from the typical Leftfield framework. (Aside: Can one say “typical” when there’s only been one previous album?) Besides, neither Leftism nor Rhythm and Stealth are really albums in the traditional sense of the word. Leftism is more a singles collection with “Open Up”, “Release the Pressure”, and “Song of Life” all released prior to the album. Conversely, R&S is more of a mix-tape, with peaks and troughs just like a good DJ set, that happens to collect tracks by the same artist.

The album launches with the Roots Manuva-fronted electro-dub of “Dusted”. Manuva’s blistering vocoded flow bridges the gap nicely between the dub and Bambaataa-electro influences central to the rest of the album. On first listen, I was struck by how much darker “Dusted” is than the majority of Leftism. That’s maybe to be expected with a title most often used to describe the psychotic behaviour of a habitual PCP user. That darkness continues with “Phat Planet”, a song best known as the soundtrack to the famous Guiness surfer add, through “Chant of a Poor Man”, a song about rising up in the face of oppression and intense loneliness, and into “Double Flash”, a percussive Underground Resistance-like track which can only be described as punishing. “El Cid” rounds out the first half (side?) of the record with an ambient dream more typical of Leftfield’s previous output. Many reviewers have described “El Cid” as the low point in Rhythm and Stealth, often pointing to superior examples of both trip-hop and ambient electronic music. For me, “El Cid” is a welcome relief to the harshness of the preceding tracks. It’s the release of all that tension with something soft and beautiful, before it starts winding up all over again.

As noted above, most of the tracks on Rhythm and Stealth owe as much to Planet Rock as to the work of Lee Perry and King Tubby. So I think it fitting that the second half kicks off with vocals by the electro-Zulu himself, Afrika Bambaataa. “Afrika Shox” is probably best remembered for its banned music video depicting a homeless man who is literally falling apart. Bambaataa’s vocals are processed in a similar manner to Manuva’s, but where Manuva sounds threatening, Bambaataa’s vocal has the air of preaching to the converted. “Dub Gussett”, as the title suggests, is little more than structural undercarriage; a dub bassline and a breakbeat that varies just enough to keep things interesting.

It’s not until “Swords” that the listener gets his first indication of the aggressiveness implied by both album title and cover art. A slowburn trip-hop track buried in the middle of the second half, “Swords” is the highlight of Rhythm and Stealth. The lyrics “I have/become pure water” and “I wear my sword/at my side”, either of which could be thought of as the chorus, can easily be imagined as the mantra of the samurai warrior pictured on the cover. A simple three chord refrain repeated as both bassline and icy synth-line couple with a click-track beat looping underneath the vocals to deliver maximum drama. The overall effect of the song is profound. I can’t help but stand a little straighter, lift my chin a little higher, as vocalist Nicole Willis sings “I wear my sword/at my side”. “Swords” welcomes the battle and promises an honourable fight.

If “Swords” is the build-up to the battle, then “6/8 War” is the war. Another unrelenting rhythm track, “6/8 War”s skirmishing beats are punctuated only by the occasional icy, echoing synth war-cry. Finally the stuggle is over and “Rino’s Prayer” anchors the record with what can only described as a lament. Reminiscent of Vangelis’ “Damask Rose” from the Bladerunner soundtrack, ”Rino’s Prayer” is mostly vocalist Rino’s mournful chanting over dissonant pads, plodding bassline and click track. The effect is melancholy, to say the least. Even the marching breakbeat and Nuremburg-like crowd noise that drops in at a little over the three minute mark only serves to highlight “Rino’s Prayer”s misery. It is the perfect finale for Rhythm and Stealth, a none-to-subtle reminder that all things come to a close.

After Rhythm and Stealth’s disparity with Leftism, the most common critical gripe was that the album never develops a groove. I played Rhythm and Stealth on the five hour drive home, and because everybody was asleep, I had to keep the volume very low. So low, in fact, that at times all I could hear was the bass. As I drove I came to realize that not only was I hearing the bass, but I was feeling it through the speaker in the door.

There is a groove to Rhythm and Stealth, but it’s hidden. You won’t hear it in your headphones.

It’s visceral; you have to feel it. With your leg up against the speaker