Russian menace

At the end of 2006, Turbo released a 12" of a - according to Tiga at that point - promising new maximalist, who originated from Russia and went by the name Proxy. His track 'Destroy' become an absolute banger that every himself respecting, maximalist-spinning DJ just had to drop in his sets.

This kid has an illustrious aura around him which he owes to his extremely dark and menacing trademark sound. I'm inclined to compare his tracks to horror movies, or maybe horror musicals - a genre which I've just invented. Whatever it is, it can't be bad, since this original sound makes him stand out in the crowd, kind of like Booka Shade, but a, err, Grim Reaper version of Merziger and Kammermeier.

Anyway, I bring you kids joyful news, because Proxy is working on an album, which is due to be released this fall. And no, I haven't stolen a copy out of his studio. What I did find is a piece of the first single, named 'Raven'(what a cheerful name...), of this yet unfinished album on YouTube.

Not bad, ey? It seems to me though, as if those kids on the front row are on a thousand drugs. Maybe it was mandatory to buy speed in order to take a leak...

Wondering-While-Wandering mixtape 02

Our carrier pigeon has brought in the second mixtape of the Wondering While Wandering series. This time the racket is coming from Naomi //, an up-and-coming London based DJ-ette. She already has quite the references though:

1. Recently she did a mix for the highly acclaimed Are People Real mixtape series.
2. She played at Bugged out! and Blogger’s Delight amongst others.
3. She shared the billings with Boys Noize, Erol, Herve, Crookers, Surkin and almost every British DJ worth taking a photograph of.

Her mixtape for Get Raveslaved is as promising as her CV. There are no real surprises in the tracklisting, but it’s extremely essential. It’s a combo of well-known tracks (Ready for the floor, The best revenge, Shadows) and fresh stuff. Naomi is not delivering a peak time mix here (which isn’t a bad thing at all, au contraire), actually it’s got more of a “Let’s-dance-the-night-away-(after-the-main-act)” feeling to it. And it seems like that’s exactly what she had in mind: the stress is on the melody and the vocals, and as the mix continues, she lets the tracks play slightly longer. Girl Power!


You can download Naomi's WWW mix here

Tracklisting:

1. Ready For The Floor (Jesse Rose Remix) - Hot Chip
2. Shadows (Knightlife Remix) - Midnight Juggernauts
3. You Belong (Riton Remix) - Hercules and Love Affair
4. Beat Generation (Tocadisco Jaegermeister Remix) - Amo and Navas
5. Disco Sirens (Boy 8 Bit Vocal Remix) - Midfield General
6. Day 'N' Nite (Crookers Remix) - Kid Cudi
7. The Best Revenge (Oliver Koletzki Remix) - Fischerspooner
8. This Boy's In Love (Lifelike Remix) - The Presets
9. Catch Me If U Can (Bag Raiders Remix) - Headman
10. Humanoidz - Tom de Neef & Laidback Luke

Le retour du roi

Ever since he left Black Strobe in 2006 due to "musical differences", silence fell around Ivan Smagghe. No more epic compilations, trademark remixes, let alone productions. He did collaborate with Tim Paris on a Kill The DJ podcast in 2007 but that was all. A whole fucking year of nothing. Was Ivan hiding under a rock?

In January 2008, Smagghe returned under the pseudonym of 'Its a Fine Line' (which includes himself and Tim Paris) and remixed The Hacker's track 'Zone'. A definite comeback was approaching and in in February, Mantra Vibes presented its third edition of the Cocorico series, compilated by no other than Mr. Smagghe.


It's good to see that he hasn't lost his touch. You see, what I love about Smagghe's compilations is that he always comes up with artists - preferably from the French scene - that aren't that well-known are even completely unknown up till now , as for example Sweet Light on his Suck My Deck compilation and [T]ékel and Poni Hoax on his Fabric 23. Now, these names sound fairly familiar in the business but there once was a period when this wasn't the case. This time, he introduces Runaway, Imek and Fred Hush & Noseda to the general public. It takes heart to introduce these DJs in a compilation, something which Smagghe has never lacked.

Of course, Smagghe is bright enough to comprehend that any compilation including solely unfamiliar tracks won't create much of a stir. There's still plenty of recognisable material on Cocorico 03, such as remixes by Villalobos (!), Radio Slave and DJ Koze. On each of his compilations, the Parisian DJ takes the listener on a musical journey, alternating between visits to well-known late-night/early-morning dancefloor monuments and gems of artists yet to be discovered.

Continuez à frayer la voie aux artists inconnus, monsieur Smagghe. Le monde musical a besoin des personnes comme vous.

Honesty

‘To just write down a feeling’, hopefully, being as honest as possible.’ Met deze leuze trok frontman Chris Spero en kompaan Matt Tolfrey, aka Glimpse, de studio in bij het maken van een nagelnieuwe release op het eigen label Glimpse Recordings. Het eigenzinnige kunstwerk kreeg de naam 5 Easy Pieces mee en zal worden gedistribueerd door het Cologne-based label Kompakt. De release is nog maar het zevende masterpiece in 4 jaar tijd en wekt zo duidelijk de indruk op dat ze bij Glimpse Recordings een patent genomen hebben op de kwaliteit, en niet op de kwanteit. Met voorafgaande producties zoals de alom gerenommeerde % Black-series, wisten ze al heel wat respect af te dwingen en grootheden der aarde als Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano, Jeff Mills en Steve Bug draaien hun platen grijs. Need I say more?

5 Easy Pieces omvat vier tracks. Openen doet het duo met het warme en Cobbelstone Jazz-achtige Misunderstood, nummer dat richting Carl Craig-territoria afstevent: diep en melodisch, maar steeds gepaard met die ruwere sound.
Volgende in het rijtje van vier is Pushing Claude met de goddelijke vocals van Patrcia Wade in combinatie met intense synths en een jacking baslijn.
Nummer drie is weggelegd voor 100% Shiraz. Geremixed door Undo en origineel uitgebracht op Glimpse’s 80% Black, zorgt het duo met dit nummer voor een extra dimensie op de EP door op wonderbaarlijke wijze een stuk verbluffende elektronica af te leveren.
Afsluiten doen ze bij Glimpse in stijl: de track In my soul – de titel alleen al doet het ons vermoeden – is een groovy, deep-house nummer die de ziel van jullie bloglezers ongetwijfeld niet onberoerd zal laten. Class!