Raveslave

For all you infected

2009-04-30T19:18:00.004+02:00

Ik heb Noord-Limburg altijd een vreemde streek gevonden. De mensen proaten er roar, denken dat de verleden tijd van pakken piek is, en bovendien staan er teveel bomen. Te fucking veel bomen.
Maar het was in het landelijke Hechtel dat drie jonge snaken tot de snuggere conclusie kwamen dat er te weinig goede feestjes in de buurt plaatsvonden. Nu heb ik uiteraard geen idee hoe ze daar bij kwamen, but Lord, am I glad they did. Hun feestje, Infected Music, groeide immers uit van een sympathieke party met lelijke flyers tot een heerlijk event waar partyharders van kilometers in de omtrek met ongeduld naar uitkijken.
Andries, Kristof en Seppe, het leukste trio sinds The Bee Gees, besloten dit jaar het nest van moeder Flamingo te verlaten en hun vleugels uit te slaan. Infected Music verhuisde naar de andere kant van het land om het allernieuwste pareltje te worden op de kalender van de Make-Up Club in Gent.

Afgelopen zaterdag was it on, en man, quelle fête. De affiche was roze met poesjes, en er stonden maar liefst drie kleppers van Institubes op. I like.

Terwijl het volk binnendruppelde en ik een stuk of driemaal bijna van de trappen kletterde op mijn belachelijke hakken, warmde Der Schmetterling de partycrowd op met zijn allerleukste, snedig afgewisselde plaatjes. De laatste Housemeister draaide hij, Schmettie kennende, uiteraard zonder enige bijbedoelingen.
De eerste Instituber die overnam was de laatste overlevende brontosaurus, Teki Latex, u weet wel, de dj met lovehandles waarmee je kan bungeejumpen. Teki is een beest, en gelukkig is hij dat ook aan de draaitafel. Hij zweette ende zwoegde ende pufte maar de Make Up Club werd effin zot. Toen de Parijse buffel genoeg fijne vleeswaren rond de dj-booth had verleid, was het de beurt aan Jean Nipon. Hij ziet eruit alsof hij orgasmes krijgt door wiskundige formules op Wikipedia te verbeteren, maar de man is ‘nuff sick. Hij is een ex-drummer in skinny jeans, die niet bang is om brutale, harde electro op te leuken met glitterige, blije geluidjes. Zelfs de obligate trutjes met blaren en Die Hard I-don’t-dance-I-drink-hufters waren eraan voor de moeite en er werd harder gedanst dan in de gemiddelde Bollywood productie.
Orgasmic, de man die in elk geval geen spiegel naast zijn kleerkast heeft hangen, speelde snoeihard vanaf de eerste plaat en je voelde de bassen tot in je tandvlees. Maar dat kan ook zijn omdat ik wacht tot Simon afgestudeerd is voor ik nog eens naar de tandarts ga. De middeleeuwse kelder van de Make-Up was een lust voor alle zintuigen. De jongens en meisjes waren mooi (nuja, niet allemaal. Maar ik heb beloofd niet meer zo te bitchen, dus dit is aardig, toch?), de muziek was hard, de drank vloeide, iedereen genoot met volle teugen. Party like it’s 1999 dus, en madness zoals we die niet vaak zien. Er lag zelfs helemaal niemand te slapen in de zeteltjes. You go, F.
Na de hardste en heerlijkste set van de avond, c’est à dire van het hele jaar, leverde Orgasmic een murw gespeeld publiek weer over in de vaardige handen van Der Schmetterling, die overigens all due respect kreeg van de Parijzenaars voor zijn all-vinyl set. Props inderdaad, als is het even een tegenvaller als een of andere random skank met haar fake chanel de naald van de plaat vlamt. Oehhhh, ik mocht niet meer bitchen.

De clubkids bleven maar van bouncy-bouncy doen, en toen tegen zes uur de hardste partyharders de moordtrap aan de uitgang van de Make-Up hadden overleefd, bleven de kilo’s gebroken glas met lipsticksporen, de gemorste drank en de lomography-verpakkingen over als stille getuigen van het feestje van het jaar.
Lord knows I adore him, maar als John Cleese nog eenmaal ‘I am no longer infected’ zegt, slaag ik hem nondeju op zijn bakkes.

Ready For ... Joris Voorn

2009-03-14T12:54:00.002+01:00

De sympathieke muzikale breinen aka de Gebroeders Swolfs, respectievelijk Martijn & Pieter, achter het up & coming partyconcept READY FOR TAKE-OFF hebben me gevraagd een review voor hen in elkaar te boksen. De jongens zijn van alle markten thuis: ze hebben connecties met de toonaangevende boegbeelden van de Belgische partyscene, hun eerste RFTO was een schot in de roos met als headliner Housemeister (BoysNoize, B Pitch) en ze hebben onlangs drie nieuwe rubrieken in het leven geroepen, waaronder een mixtapeserie, de Charts en nu dus ook een reviewsectie. Ik voel me dus zeer vereerd dat ik een bijdrage mag leveren voor hun concept en het startschot voor de revieuwsectie mag geven. De eerste van mijn hand is de nieuwe Balance Compilatie van Joris Voorn. Dus rep je als de bliksen naar de RFTO myspace en toon je liefde!

PS: In de wandelgangen heb ik vernomen dat de jongens op een moddervette en funky 2de editie broeden... Dus volg ze op de voet op (schaduw ze desnoods)!

WWW 08

2009-03-01T21:40:00.006+01:00

It was about time that Raveslave crew member Cait Sith would provide for a WWW-mixtape. The man slash machine with the name of a jedi has been a regular contributor to this blog for many a month now, ripping up dance floors all over the country in between. Visitors of 10 days off, Culture Club and Go for Happy – and probably also God – all know his name and also his own concept TV OFF is fully on with three successful editions in the last year. Having invited Bobmo and Kazey from the Institubes stable together with local locos, TV OFF is the freshest concept in Limburg.

Although normally Cait Sith stands for dance floor-oriented nu-rave electro sets, for his WWW-mixtape he wanted to show you a glimpse of his other side. Take off your Ed Banger shirts and sit down for a melodic minimal/ house journey with a tinge of nu-disco.

Download WWW08 here

Tracklist:

Shaboo (Andy’s Edit) – Photonz (Dissident)
Whispers feat. Kathy Diamond – Aeroplane (Eskimo)
Lotus (Kolombo Rmx) – Nhar (Time Has Changed)
Karasu – Quarion (Drumpoet Community)
Very Wrong (Chaim Rmx) – Gel Abril (Be As One Imprint)
Plastic People (Deetron Dub) – Kraak and Smaak (Jalapeno)
Paradox (Magik Johnson Rmx) – Darko Esser & Benny Rodrigues (Underwater)
Newoldshit – Chris Simmonds (Robsoul)
Ghosts in my Machine – Milton Jackson (Freerange)
Butterfly Story – Jay Lee (CDR)
Jouster – Marc Houle (Minus)
Memola Bua – Agoria (Different)
Oblivion (Clouded Vision’s Vertical Drop) – Brodinski (Turbo)
Drop It – Troydon (Spatula City)

The Charts

2009-02-24T19:07:00.004+01:00

Touch my...

Luomo – Tessio (Spektre rmx) [Great Stuff]
Robert Dietz – Sunshower [Cecille]
Mario Aureo – Talking drums (Jaxson & David Keno rmx) [Bouq]
Chelonis R. Jones – Rehabilitation (Dachshund rmx) [Systematic]
Erich Lesovsky – 93 Percent [Stil vor Talent]
FIX – Dope Computer (Ken Ishii rmx) [Night Vision]
Jesse Rose – Touch my horn [Made to play]
Oliver $ - The greatest [Made to Play]
Julian Jeweil – Saint Mitre (Danton Eeprom’s Futurama Rework) [Skryptom records]
Agoria – Diva Drive [Different]
Sidney Samson – Riverside [Sneakerz MUZIK]

... turtle

Peace Division – Freak this [8bit]
Federleicht – In the streets (Kollektiv Turmstrasse rmx) [Connaisseurs]
Till von Sein – It’s My Love [Channels]
Bottin – No Static (Club version) [Whack Records]
Lars Bartkuhn – Goodbye dancing hello god (Arto Mwambe rmx) [Sonar Kollektiv]
2000 And One – Heritage (Album) [100% pure]
Dplay – Huub Sand [Running back]
Masomenos – Turtle is back [WTM]
Till von Sein – Sugar [Tren]
The Sunburst Band – Man of war (Henrik Schwarz dub) [Z Records]
Woolfy – Oh Missy (In Flagranti’s Xenon rmx) [DFA]

De nouveau, feel free to post your precious goodies...

(H)Aus Music all night long?

2009-02-15T14:01:00.005+01:00

Sideshow, Aus Music, Appleblim, Chateau Flight: klinkt indrukwekkend, niet? Maar zou het hele plaatje niet nog mooier ogen, moesten al deze artiesten in 1 release betrokken worden? Inderdaad, dat dacht ik ook toen ik de releasegegevens in mijn mailbox ontdekte…

In 2006 riepen Will Saul – oprichter van zusterlabel Simple Records – en Fink – Ninja Tune artiest bij uitstek – het label Aus Music in het leven. Vanaf dat moment heeft het label zijn zinnen gezet op de meer experimentele kant van house, techno, disco en dub. De harde kern achter de schermen bij Aus Music is er eentje van groot kaliber: Fin Greenall – met als alter ego’s Fink en Sideshow –, Lee Jones van My My, Sian en – mijn persoonlijke favoriet van de bende – Will Saul.

“The qualities that unite the different styles on Aus are detail,musicality,
lush melody, an irresistible groove and a healthy dose of dub.”(Myspace)

If alone is de eerste single van diezelfde Sideshow’s album Admit one, dat ook recentelijk het licht zag op het label Aus Music.
De originele track is een kritische en emotionele aanklacht op de hedendaagse sociale toestand, bekeken door de ogen van een van ‘s werelds meeste bekende en gereputeerde dub en reggae tekstschrijvers. De vocals moesten dan ook als basis dienen voor de remixen die respectievelijk geïnterpreteerd werden door twee befaamde producers die elk afzonderlijk de uitgelezen kenners van het genre – house en dubstep – belichamen.

Het Parijse duo, Chateau Flight, bestaat uit Gilb’R – oprichter van het alom gelauwerde Versatile Records – en I:Cube, Frans muziekgenie bekend om zijn talrijke remixen. Het tweetal uit hun respect voor de tekst door deze op de voorgrond te plaatsen, voorzien van een soulvolle en complexe housebeat die uitermate geschikt is voor zowel begin als einde van een DJ-set. De klasse van deze remix schuilt in zijn subtiliteit: haast iedere nieuwe luisterbeurt legt een nieuwe dimensie bloot. Voor hun 2de remix echter gaat Chateau Flight hun strikte territorium van (popachtige)house ietwat te buiten en met Aus' leuze 'a healthy dose of dub' gaan de heren regelrecht voor een dubversie met een swingende baslijn die de dansmicrobe ongetwijfeld zal stimuleren, maar weze gewaarschuwd: er is echter geen remedie. Vooral na de breakdown in de track zal menig dansvloer in lichterlaaie staan.

De 2de remixer achter If alone is Laurie ‘Appleblim’ Osborne. De in Bristol gehuisvestigde producer heeft het afgelopen jaar heel wat furore gemaakt en heeft volgens mij een groot aandeel gehad in de promotie van het genre dubstep. Vooral zijn podcast – de prachtige symbiose tussen dubstep en house – voor het fantastische Resident Advisor heeft hem meer dan ooit op de wereldkaart gezet. Samen met Schackleton, gooit het tweetal hoge ogen als labelhouders van Skull Disco. Applebim runt daarenboven ook zijn eigen label, Apple Pips, waar hij onder meer materiaal van Martyn en Brendan Moeller releast. De remix zelf, waarvoor Applebim een beroep deed op zijn Bristolse vriend Komonazmuk, begint aanvankelijk rustig, diep en zelfs rustgevend wanneer een kort intermezzo vooral aandacht schenkt aan de vocals. Vanaf dan bouwt de spanning stilaan op en zorgen de melodische en euforische synthklanken ervoor dat het dubstepavontuur pas echt begint.

Als kers op de taart, plaats ik hier alvast twee remixen die jullie ongetwijfeld warm zullen maken en jullie zullen aanzetten om het hele remixpakket te bemachtigen.

Sideshow - If alone (Appleblim and Komonazmuk remix) by Fre0

Sideshow - If Alone (Chateau Flight Dub) by Fre0

WWW 07

2009-02-09T18:44:00.004+01:00

Geoffroy has been at the forefront of the Belgian house scene for many years now but still sounds as refreshing today as he did back in the nineties. As a producer, he’s the driving force behind Mugwump, one of Belgium’s most successful export products in the dance music business with releases on Sasse’s Mood Music, Ewan Pearson’s high-standard Misericord imprint, Rob Mello’s Disco 45 (though distributed via Kompakt) and – last but not least – the mighty Kompakt.

A track for the Ghent-based Eskimo label and another EP on Kompakt are still in the pipeline. Mugwump’s high-quality productions earned Geoffroy declarations of love from international heavyweights such as Ewan Pearson, Dixon, Ivan Smagghe and Kiki (to name but a very few) and gigs at the best clubs in the world , most notably at Fabric, The End, Berghain, Rex Club, Sub-Club and Pacha. Next to producing and DJ’ing, Geoffroy also hosts Flesh, a gig at Fuse in Brussels to which he invites kindred spirits such as Âme, Ewan Pearson, Sasse and Motorcitysoul.

His WWW mix is a musical self-portrait of Geoffroy: eclectic, bumpy and most of all surprising. There’s a whole bunch of contemporary house tracks on tap, a few classics as well as some cuts of his own production, all flawlessly mixed into a coherent dance-provoking entity.

Check it out yourself over here

Wanted!

2009-02-05T13:08:00.004+01:00

Commotie alom in de muziekbiz! Een van de huidige, meest gereputeerde - volgens Phonica - producers in de minimal- en housewereld heeft zijn (remix)hand gelegd op Nina Simone's Sea (See?) Line Women en Moloko's Sing it back. De naam van de producer blijft tot op heden echter een mysterie, net zoals het label waarop het remixpakket het licht ziet. Volgens Phonica en Junorecords zou het wel de tweede release in de Einfach Series zijn en de tracks zijn respectievelijk getiteled Lemany en Mologo.

Het gerucht doet de ronde dat ofwel Reboot, ofwel Pitto the mystery guy achter deze twee knallers van een remixen zou zijn, die reeds grijs gedraaid worden door grootmeesters als Luciano en Villalobos. Markant detail is echter wel dat er maar 100 vinyls wereldwijd zijn geperst, hetgeen betekent: dat deze remixen meer dan ooit gegeerd wild zijn en dat je je bijgevolg als one very lucky motherfucker mag beschouwen als je ze in je bezit hebt!

De tracks zijn voorlopig niet in mp3-formaat beschikbaar en ik betwijfel het sterk als dat ooit het geval zal zijn. Quoi qu'il en soit, ik deel jullie alvast mee wat ze op Youtube voor de leeuwen hebben gegooid... Big big big!

Moloko - Sing it back (Remix)

Nina Simone - See Line Women (Remix)

The charts

2009-01-25T23:21:00.004+01:00

New Love

Hatikvah – A brilliant handsome boy
BLM & Pawas – Down down
Kreon - Potassa
Ribadisco – House of Love
dOP - Blanche neige
Plein Soleil – Casus Belli (The Brontasaurus Sage rmx)
Danny Tenaglia & Code 718 – Equinox (Henrik Schwarz Dub)
Roland Appel – New Love (Tuff City Kids rmx)
Dirt Crew – Soundwave (Quarion’s Drunken wave rmx)
Pawas - Niceness

Als bonus volgt er nog een chart die deel uitmaakt van mijn 'nieuwe sound' waarover ik in mijn vorige post uitvoerig heb gesproken:

Debbie's callin'

TG (Tim Green) – Feign
Tomski & Fredboy – Cereals (James Brown rmx)
Kenton Slash Demon – Khattabi
James Braun – The Shakers
Argy & The Martinez Brothers - Debbie Downer
Herve Ak – Sorry but no (Ripperton’s D3 mix)
Marc Romboy – Sonora (Patrice Baumel rmx)
Gimikk – Dancin’ on the stars (Paco Osuna Bass edit)
Channel X – Into the club / Wake Up
Fetisch & Me & Flexor – The calling

2009-01-21T14:56:00.005+01:00

De volgende post van mijn hand ligt min of meer in het verlengde van de vorige in die zin dat ie tevens als introductie geldt voor het nieuwe jaar. Het lijkt of mijn visie op de hedendaagse muziek een andere vorm heeft gekregen in vergelijking met de afgelopen maanden en de overgang naar een nieuw jaar dient zich aan op een schotelblaadje om als context voor deze post te fungeren. Het lijkt alsof beide hand in hand gaan. Samen. In het verleden ging mijn interesse vooral uit naar soulvolle en diepe housemuziek, maar het lijkt meer en meer alsof ik hunker naar iets anders, iets onbekends; ondefinieerbaars. Niet dat het einde van mijn housetijdperk nabij is, maar laat ik zeggen dat de invulling van het begrip House een nieuwe betekenis voor me heeft gekregen. Die invulling omvat een breder spectrum aan invloeden, stijlen, muziek die divergeert… een andere sound tout court. Een sound die nog steeds mijn liefde voor house zal weerspiegelen, maar tevens blijk zal geven van een iets ruwere edgy kant; ietwat machinaal zonder daardoor het label van straight minimal te dragen. Als Medeblogger, Liss., bij zijn thuis wat records spinnt, stel ik vast dat ook hij alvast meer en meer naar een stijl evolueert à la Brodi, een Matt Walsh of een Casper C… Artiesten die tegenwoordig plaatjes draaien die zowel terug te vinden zijn in de Djbag van een Loco Dice als die van Brodi himself en het zijn die artiesten die ik in de toekomst ook nauw op de voet zal volgen. Beschouw deze post dus als een voorsmaakje op wat komen zal, een glimp achter de coulissen van mijn muzikaal brein. Een nieuwe weg die ik zal bewandelen, zonder daardoor het housepad te verlaten. Meer zelfs, ik heb nog een chart, getiteld New Love, in de koelkast staan en ik zal bovendien blijven posten over de housescene.

In het licht van het voorgaande, wil ik het vooral hebben over een bepaald label wiens visie nauw strookt met ‘mijn nieuwe’ sound. Het betreft het up & coming Deense label van Fredski en Tomboy – drummer van Whomadewho –, gedoopt onder de naam: Tartelet Records. Het komisch duo heeft alvast de eerste release verzorgd en hun Do the Tartelet EP is de muzikale incarnatie waarvoor hun label staat: techno-house met funky disco-invloeden en…. “a bit world”.
Misschien wel net wat ik zoek?

Aan deze beloftevolle aftrap werd al gauw een interessant vervolg gebreid met releases van de van hand Analogik en de locale held MHM aka Morten Halborg-Møller. Deze gozer liet de techno even achterwegen en knalde een regelrechte houseburner in elkaar. Een strakke constante percussiebaslijn met een tribal-esque feel to it overgoten met een subtiele, toch soulvolle, vocal; dat vormen de ingrediënten van deze track. De EP werd zelfs geremixed door de Deen Martin Decara, labeleigenaar van 3de Floor Records, die resoluut de technokaart kiest en de Amsterdammer Melon aka Je Dàvu, een van artiest wiens productie ik volledig weet te waarderen. Jullie herinneren zich ongetwijfeld nog zijn wondermooie release Nitzi (In my mind, so fine), een track die werd opgepikt door Dixon & co. en zo op hun gerenommeerde Secret Weapons serie belandde. Melons mix voor MHM, getiteld Melon 8 days late tribal strip tool, vuurt je inderdaad aan tot 8 dagen grooven. Hij laat de vocal voortdurend op de achtergrond sudderen, zorgt voor een stevige kickbaslijn en de zet de tribalgroove nog wat kracht bij.

Maar het is echter met de release van het remixpakket van de Do the Tartelet EP dat het label mij volledig over de streep wist te trekken en mijn fiducie in hun toekomstperspectieven wist te beamen. Het pakket is 3 remixen rijk, maar persoonlijk steekt de interpretatie van Cereals van James Braun er met kop en schouders bovenuit. De track is een schoolvoorbeeld van Funktechno met een in-your-face baslijn die menig dansvloer zal openrijten. En de Deense lad gaat op datzelfde elan verder voor zijn eigenproductie, Spanish Fly, recentelijk gereleased op – inderdaad – Tartelet. Hij kan hiervoor alvast rekenen op de support van Laurent Garnier(!) en Raresh, en de lyrics van de track The Shakers – gaande als volgt: “This one’s for all the shakers” – geven alvast blijk waaraan men zich kan verwachten: puur dansvloermateriaal!

En de toekomst blijft er rooskleurig uitzien voor de crew bij Tartelet, want een ander beloftvol Deense duo komt aan de deur kloppen, meer bepaald Kenton Slash Demon. Na een 2 jaar hiatus komt het tweetal op de proppen met de track Khattabi, die weliswaar pas in februari gereleased zal worden. Ik laat jullie alvast nog wat watertanden, maar dit kan ik jullie wél vertellen: de track wordt al grijs gedraaid door Matt Walsh.

Miroir, Miroir…

2009-01-20T22:01:00.009+01:00

Back in business na een kort intermezzo wegens – uiteraard – examenverplichtingen. 2009 mag dan al wel enkele weken oud zijn, toch zie ik nog steeds mijn kans schoon om het nieuwe jaar – muzikaal – in te luiden. Raveslavehomie Cait heeft alvast de toon gezet door enkele party’s te droppen met een line-up om vingers en duimen bij af te likken en hier bij Raveslave gaan we gewoonweg op dat elan verder. Naast de soms vaak clichématige aangelegenheden die inherent gepaard gaan met de ‘feestdagen’, vind ik deze periode ook uitermate interessant omwille van de welgekende ‘lijstjes’ die gerenommeerde blogs en websites opstellen. Zo raad ik jullie nieuwsgieren aan een kijkje te nemen op Resident Advisor waar ze het jaar in stijl hebben afgesloten door de in hun ogen beste artiesten, tracks, albums… in een chart te gieten.

Naast enkele opmerkelijke nieuwe intreden, hebben de grootheden der aarde hun reputatie nadrukkelijk bevestigd. Zo staat Ricardo Villalobos op nummer een in het lijstje – van 100! – van de beste artiesten van het afgelopen jaar. Ricardo is uniek in zijn soort: mysterieus, crowdpleaser – en -teaser – futurist en romanticus! Geen wonder dat de Chileen in haast ieder lijstje in de top-3 opduikt.
Maar de hedendaagse muziekscene is nog talentvolle parkieten rijk, meer bepaald Dj Koze. De man staat op numero uno in de chart van beste track – I want to sleep – van 2008 en was ook hier bij de Raveslave crew gegeerd wild. 2008 was een jaar waarin de creativiteit op elektronisch gebied nauwelijks aan banden was te leggen, en niet alleen I want to sleep, maar tevens zijn Let’s love en Zou Zou waren daar het levende bewijs van. Toch heeft Koze mij dit jaar het meest weten te verrassen met zijn remixen. Zijn interpretatie van Sascha Funkes Mango Cookie zat zowat in iedere Djbag, gereserveerd voor hét piekmoment van de avond. Maar persoonlijk getuigde zijn remix voor Matias Aguayo’s Minimal van een nog hoger staaltje vakmanschap. De track was misschien niet zo dansvloergericht, maar die sound blies me gewoon omver. Klasse!

Voorts was 2008 niet alleen hoopgevend omdat alle klasbakken hun kunnen wederom geëtaleerd hebben, maar ook omdat de youngbucks, de vreemde eendjes in de bijt – up & coming – hun visitekaartje hebben afgegeven. Ik denk hierbij aan Brodinski, SIS, Azuni, Appleblim – het genre dubstep tout court – Dave Aju, Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts… en vooral dOP. Hun wonky jazz house EP op Seuil’s label EKLO, getiteld I’m just a man, was een knaller van jewelste. dOP’s sound is zo puur en de Frenchies onderscheiden zich van de rest door hun diepzinnige lyrics, getuige deze zin: “I’ve been to lands, where birds feel better than the man”. En hun release voor januari is zodoende nog beter. Hun Blanche Neige staat nu al hoog genoteerd in de charts van menig topjock. Hét kippenvelmoment is natuurlijk wederom de tekst: het sprookje van sneeuwwitje gezongen door een zeemzoete Franse mannenstem. Een release om te koesteren.

Uiteraard maken deze aantekeningen slechts deel uit van een hele resem muzikale hoogtepunten, die hier onvermeld blijven, maar tevens een pluim verdienen. Daarom ben ik ook heel nieuwsgierig naar jullie highlights, ontdekkingen, platen die jullie wisten te ontroeren of eerder in trance van uitzinnige extase brachten, kortom: jullie best of. Posten die handel dus!

Allright..

2009-01-15T10:18:00.004+01:00

.. you fucking students.
It's hella-boring outside, no parties, no drugs, no sex.
That's about to change:

And on Valentine's, it seems every pre-schooler in the country is looking forward to Bloody Beetroots @ Silo. I might end up there as well, but I'm going to do my best to create a crew to check this out:

See you there, I guess.

WWW 06

2008-12-01T13:21:00.006+01:00

Our sixth installation in the WWW-series comes from Voltron, a promising DJ duo originating from Aalst. Voltron started DJ’ing about 2 years ago and have come a long way since. Currently, they hold residencies at the Aalst-based Smack My Pitch Up and Newscafé in Brussels and have played alongside the likes of Dr. Lektroluv, Bobmo and Cosy Mozzy.

Their WWW-mix can be labelled best as 40 minutes of dance floor oriented house and electro. Rather than sticking to one niche, Voltron has chosen to combine techhouse, disco-house and nu-rave and complete the big picture with some classics such as Paul Hardcastle’s ‘Rain Forest’ and CLS’ mighty house anthem ‘Can You Feel It’. If anything is clear from their WWW-mix, it’s that Voltron doesn’t care much about genre tags. They simply want to rock the party and in this mix, they do a pretty damn good job at it.

You can download it here

Tracklist
Tom Tom Club - Pleasure of Love (Sire Records)
Paul Hardcastle - Rain Forest (ZYX Records)
Tom Mangan - I Am Digit (Playtime)
Late Of The Pier - Bathroom Gurgle (Tomski & Fredboy Remix) (Parlophone)
Sammy Bananas - Work me (Fool's Gold)
CLS - Can You Feel It (Strictly Rhythm)
Nadastrom - Pussy (Dubsided)
The Black Ghosts - Anyway You Choose To Give It (Playgroup Dub) (Southern Fried)
L.S.B. Edits - Shout (L.S.B. Edits Inc)
Rodion - Scuola Radio Elettra (Gomma)
Liaisons Dangereuses - Los Niños Del Parque (Muzic Box Edit)
Water Lilly - Lottotron Reboot (Mental Groove Records)
Zombie Nation - Forza (UKW Records)
Tomas Andersson - Mot Matsalen! (Bpitch Control)
Electric Ecstacy Club - Jesus Loves The Acid (Swordfish Records)
Dirty Minds - Life of Brian (Eskimo Recordings)
Cut Copy - Feel The Love (Modular Recordings)

Nightdrive with you...

2008-11-20T18:10:00.016+01:00

Zoals reeds eerder te berde gebracht, word ik momenteel volledig ondergedompeld in de hier heersde Franse muziekscene. Geen strakke, machinale en minimale beats, noch diepe housegrooves, maar veeleer zeemzoete, feel good disco en synthpop!
Hieronder volgt een track die grijs wordt gedraaid op een avondje uit in la France. Het betreft een track van de hand van de Franse producer, Anoraak.

Anoraak mag misschien niet zo bekend zijn bij het grote publiek, des te meer bij kenners en liefhebbers. Naast zijn liefde voor het producen, maakt hij eveneens deel uit van het alom gewaardeerde Valerie-collectief. Voor zij die zich geroepen voelen en verder willen kijken dan hun neus lang is, meer muzikale rijkdom willen bezitten dan hun gehoorwijdte hen toebedeelt en zo dieper willen graven in de het latente, bezoek dan zeker eens deze cherie van een Valerie.

September laatsleden heeft Anoraak een mini-album, getiteld Nightdrive with you, gereleased op het label Endless summer recordings, what's in a name, isn't it? De titeltrack zelf stak er persoonlijk met kop en schouders bonvenuit, vandaar ook deze post.
Anoraak schildert namelijk deze catchy en dromerig popmuziek met een subtiele knipoog naar de 90's à la Modjo en dát samen met de retro synthbasslijnen en gitaarsolo's die we tegenwoordig destileren bij een Hercules and Love Affaire.

Ik ga dus geen woorden meer kwijten, maar de muziek voor zich laten spreken. De track, alsmede een zeer geslaagde remix van GRUM, valt te beluisteren op Anoraak's myspace.

Lovely Art

2008-11-04T19:20:00.011+01:00

First things first: je m’excuse. Er is ondertussen al heel wat tijd verstreken zonder een post van mij kant. Net zoals mijn medebloggers, Liss. en Chris, vertoef ik in andere oorden wegens studieverplichtingen. Hoewel dergelijke uitwisseling een once in a lifetime expercience is, zowel muzikaal als intellectueel, brengt het ook wel wat onvoorziene problemen met zich mee, hélas. Een gebrekkige internetverbinding is namelijk debet aan mijn zeldzame bijdragen. Maar zoals Caith in een voorgaande post al beaamde, wil ik jullie niet belasten met mijn pied-à-terre, dus genoeg geklaag: back to business. Ik pik dan ook gedwee terug de draad op en focus me wederom op de housesectie van Raveslave. De internetloze maand heeft natuurlijk zijn tol geëist en sommige releases zullen dus aan mijn nauwlettend oog ontsnapt zijn, maar in wat volgt presenteer ik toch nog enkele tracks die voor mij persoonlijk een van de muzikale hoogtepunten vormden van de afgelopen maand. Geen straight housemuziek, maar eerder funky discomateriaal. Vraag me niet waarom, maar het lijkt alsof de Frenchies met hun muziekscène, die een nadrukkelijk disco- en seventiesrevival kent, onbewust een invloed op me heeft. Een Fremdkörper aan het woord…

De eerste track uit het lijstje, is een remix van de hand van Art of Tones, het mysterieuze alter ego van Ludovic Llorca, grondlegger van het label Brique Rouge en bekend van zijn projecten met Laurent Garnier. Ditmaal heeft hij de track Love on the line van de band Crazy P - tevens terug te vinden op hun nagelnieuwe album Stop Space Return (aanrader!) – in een nieuw kleedje gestopt. Onder het mon van Art of Tones heeft hij nog niet veel op zijn palmares prijken, maar deze release voor het label 2020 visions zal zijn bekendheid ongetwijfeld een duwtje in de rug geven. De release op zich bestaat uit drie tracks: een vocal, dub en Photon dub mix.
De vocal remix blijft grotendeels trouw aan de structuur van de originele track, maar voorziet het terwijl van een groovy basslijn uitgekiemd voor een housedansvloer. De dub mix is eerder instrumentaal, maar behoudt weliswaar de housegroove én de aanstekelijke vocals van frontzangeres Danielle Moore. Haar NYC Houseachtige en 80’s popgetinte vocals temperen de machinale beats en voegen als het ware bitterzoete muzikale lagen toe.
De Photon dub mix tast het onbekende nog wat meer af, gaat nog een stapje verder en mondt uit in een indrukwekkende late night affaire. Simpel, maar uitermate effectief: back to basics klinkt de boodschap.

De tweede track is ontsproten in het brein van man of the moment Mark E – of beter gezegd: the man tout court –. Mark E’s genialiteit kent dezer dagen geen grenzen en is – gelukkig – niet meer weg te denken, noch aan banden te leggen. Hij breidt de releases aan elkaar zoals een kledingketen dat doet in zijn gloriedagen én on top of that zijn het stuk voor stuk pareltjes. De maand oktober kent twee releases van zijn makelij: enerzijds een eigen productie, getiteld Based on misunderstandings, Part 2 en anderzijds een remix van de track The low murderer is out at night van Low Motion Disco. De eerste vormt een vervolg op de Misunderstandings House Series van het gerenommeerde Jazzanova, en de EP ziet dan ook niet zo verwonderlijk het licht op hun label, Sonar Kollektiv. Het geheel bestaat uit respectievelijk twee tracks, Fazer en Smokescreen. Beide songs zijn twee slow late night burners die subtiel en sierlijk balanceren tussen Mark E’s brandmerk van disco met een lage BPM en pumpin’ Detroit house. Atmosferisch, hypnotiserend, spacey en een dubby basslijn: dat vormen de kernwoorden van een wederom uitermate stijlvolle release.
En van hetzelfde laken een broek voor zijn overige release, meer bepaald zijn remix voor Low Motion Disco. De Zwitserse discoguru’s komen op de proppen met hun derde single voor het alom geprezen Belgische Eskimo Recordings. Mark E is hierbij andermaal op remix duty en voegt als geen ander die extra touch en flavour toe aan het originele. Hij dringt de akoestische gitaren ietwat naar de achtergrond en opteert voor een stevige basslijn die na het beluisteren blijft nazinderen, zoals het beeld van de geelrode avondzon die op je netvlies staat gebrand. Opnieuw zorgt het slo-mo effect voor die kenmerkende hypnotiserende sound en laat Mark E de tekst “out at night” op de achtergrond drijven tussen de dubby beats. Top!

Om in stijl af te sluiten, wil ik jullie het volgende lijst ook nog en passant meedelen. Het omvat nog enkele tracks die mooi aansluiten aan de reeds vermelde highlights van de afgelopen maand:

° Ray Okpara – this for deep

° Ray Okpara – Loving moonbuah

° Junesex – Worst than love (Losouls Love in times of art rmx)

° Spieltape – Reya

° Steve Lawler – Femme fatale (Ripperton rmx)

° Sebo K - Diva

° Rolando – Hiatus (Dub mx)

° Je davu – need you tonight

° La pena – Not so bad

° Dave Aju – first love

The feeling of clubbing

2008-10-28T22:44:00.004+01:00

One of the things I haven’t done during my current stay abroad is attend a proper clubnight. Sure, I’ve been to a lot of parties, some of which can be classified under the label ‘good’ and others which were the quite the opposite. I try to erase the latter from my memory – something I reckon all of us attempt to do – but in doing so, a rather unsettling thought crossed my mind. I couldn’t remember what a fine clubnight felt like…

I can easily recall some of the mammoth tunes that were dropped by a great DJ during some clubnight and some memorable things that happened that same night. No matter how hard I try though, I just can’t remember what I felt that very night or how much fun I had.

This is the reason why we go back I guess. To experience the feeling of having a good time with your friends and to know again what it feels like to forget about the everyday world and be part of a better one, if only for a couple of hours. This feeling must be the gist of clubbing. Getting drunk or taking drugs can be viewed as a sort of means to an end in this case. Some may need booze to experience the feeling whereas others are already 'feeling the groove' through the combination of being around their friends while dancing to some great tracks.

I believe it’s also what makes clubbers, and music lovers in general, alike. Whether your world is ruled by maximalist electro, hypnotising minimal, groovy house or anything in between is of little matter in clubbing because we’re all essentially in search of the same. Enough of my moralizing though; I’m off to actually experience what I’ve been babbling about. Joe from Hot Chip is coming to town for a DJ performance.

Shout out to the West-Side

2008-10-27T16:22:00.007+01:00

For those of you who are stuck on the other side of the planet, far away from Limburg, there's other parties to go to besides Cocadisco this weekend. And we all want Raveslave to go national, right?

They are in the middle of the recording process of their new album, but Klaxons bass player Jamie Reynolds agreed to play a special dj-set at Culture Club. Dirty Dancing deputy Cosy Mozzy gladly accepted to warm up for him and is introducing his latest project “Cosy Mozzy vs Montevideo”. From Antwerp they’ve got the renowned Fanklub Djs. Sounds like a perfect night out…

A-Trak's life story reads like the American Dream... In his own words: “When I was 13 I bought myself some turntables and a mixer. I practiced for about 18 hours a day. Then I came out of my basement, packed my lunch and won a bunch of world championships. Joy! ***UPDATE: A-TRAK CANCELLED***

You may know Kid Sister from the recent “Beeper” tune, or the single she did with Kanye West “Pro Nails”... She's also working with Pharrell Williams. Oh, and did I mention she’s dating A-Trak..?

So there you go.
Visit Culture Club if this might be something that tickles your bwalls!

Coladisco*

2008-10-24T14:31:00.011+02:00

About three years ago, nightlife was just about dead in the western part of Limburg. Club Montini – once one of the shining beacons in clubland – had been on its way back for several years. It was during those dull times that two men grew tired of the nightly boredom in the region. They saw the moribund Montini fit to serve as location for their very own club night: Cocadisco. The line-up featured Ed&Kim, Jan Van Biesen, a four hour set by Deg & Tomaz and an (at the time) unknown duo that went by the name of Corrid’or. The first edition was a smashing success and got the locals dreaming for more. And boy, were their dreams answered…

Fast forward to today. Cocadisco is a party which is famed nationwide. Its line-ups have featured international hard-hitters such as Freeform Five, Brodinski and Monica Electronica as well as Belgium’s finest DJs ( The Glimmers, The Subs, Jan Van Biesen, Hermanos Inglesos, The Revolving Eyes, …). And on the 31st of October, after a one year hiatus, it’s back!

The biggest change this time is the shift in location from De Schuur to De Brug in Nieuwerkerken. The concept is still entirely the same though: one big international headliner supported by a pack of great Belgian DJs. French nu-raver Don Rimini is this edition’s main attraction. He is being backed up by the rising stars Sound of Stereo, Goldfox, habitué Jules X and residents Ed&Kim and Corrid’or. To promote Cocadisco's third anniversary edition, we have 3 mixtapes for you from DJs that are part of the line-up. Furthermore, we'll also put up some sets of night in question in a few weeks time so those of you who were there can relive the experience and those of you who weren't will know what you've missed out on.

The first mix comes from a duo that goes by the name Sound of Stereo, the absolute Belgian fidget revelation of 2008. They’ve been a part of the Belgian clubbing landscape for some time, but it was their debut EP ‘ Nic Nag’ that really separated them from the mass. ‘Nic Nag’ wasn’t just liked by Belgian DJs, it was also picked up by international fidget heavyweights such as Crookers and Bloody Beetroots, to name just a few. Their latest track ‘Parrot Attack’ is already receiving the support it deserves by the likes of Dr. Lektroluv, who has included it on his latest mix cd.

Their producing career has only just taken off but their DJ sets are in ever-increasing demand. In the following months, they’ll be spinning all over Belgium as well as in Portugal, Italy and France.

So Sound of Stereo is the name and fidget’s the game. This is exactly what you can expect from their mix. It’s fast-paced, in-your-face and contains the hottest fidget and nu-rave tracks on the market at the moment. There’s not much room to breathe; it’s just one banger after the other. So don’t say we haven’t warned you, you’re in for a wild ride on October 31.

You can download it here

Tracklist
Sound of stereo - Zoopah Dupah EP intro
Bingo Players - Get up (Diplo remix)
Sharkslayer - So sincere
Lee Mortimer - Putto
The Yank - We can't be stop'd
Count of monte Crystal - My Condition (original)
Nadastrom - Pussy
Mickey & Jesus - Rompy Dompy
Hijack - Hijackin' (Hervé remix)
Futureheads - Worry about it later (switch edit)
Crookers - Il Cattivo
Leon Jean-Marie - Bring it on (jack beats remix)
Lil Wayne - A Milli (scottie B rmx)
Jaimie Fanatic - Old Skool Is My Skool
Sawtooth Suckah - Letting go (original)
Sound Of Stereo - Evil Panda (original)
Shinichi Osawa - Star Guitar (Armand Van Helden Remix)
Lazaro Casanova - Venganza (DJ Barletta Crunk Edit)
Destroy Disco - Fly or Bounce

The second mix comes from Goldfox, one of Limburg’s best known DJs. In his home province, he’s so omnipresent and loved as a DJ that at one point, there’s no getting past him when you’re planning on hosting a Limburg-based party. Mashing up lots of genres in his sets and subsequently adding his personal touch to them, the man’s style is to be called eclectic at the very least. One distinctive trademark are the many ultra-physical classic tunes which always make his DJ sets very energetic.

As is the case with many DJs, Goldfox couldn’t stick to merely his decks and started to host his own parties in Limburg as well as Leuven. His Rave Our Souls concept, which is hosted in Hasselt, is turning out to be a huge success with its past two editions completely sold out. There’s a new one in the pipeline for November 8 with nineties rave gods Altern8 and Human Resource in the line-up.

This mixtape shows a side of Goldfox that you don’t see very often. It’s filled with obscure electro and break beats; genres which are very dear to him but, unfortunately, quite inaccessible to the bigger crowds. The darker mood of the mix combined with the many unknown tracks gives it a sense of timelessness – a rare thing indeed.

You can download it here

Last but not least is Jules X. The odd man out, call him what you like, this 31-year-old Belgian Italian stallion has been there, done that: he was a regular at the terrific Body to Body parties at Culture Club, sharing the decks with The Hacker, Tiga and Felix da Housecat amongst others. He makes frequent appearances at MODfest, Breakdown, Cocadisco and the Vice magazine parties and last summer he also hosted 'Last night a DJ saved my life' on Switch, Stu Bru. Moreover, he throws his own Dominion shindigs at The Zoo, Hasselt and Shadowboxing parties at Recyclart, Brussels. Jules’ minimix sort of reflects his polyvalent style: from electro and hacienda classics to old skool hip hop and rock ‘n roll!

You can download it here

Tracklist
The Doors - People are strange (Jules x 808 edit)
Rockmaster Scott - The roof is on fire
Beastie Boys - Intergalactic (Jules X Knight rider remix)
MARRS - Pump up the volume
Grace Jones - Pull up to the bumper
Z-Factor - Hey DJ
Talking heads - Once in a lifetime
Hithouse - jack to the sound of the underground
Metallica - from whom the bell tolls (Jules X dance remix)
Console - 1400
Kill bill - Uma thurman
Jules X Outro (Eazy e vs Soulwax)

Temposphere

2008-10-20T13:30:00.005+02:00

If they say that you ain’t you-know-what in baby-who-knows-how-long, it is high time for another Temposphere season. Last Tuesday, the game was on again in Rumba.

Okey, I may be a just a littlybittly tendentious but let’s not be corny about it, cats. Leuven generally isn’t really known as the umbilicus mundi of party. Hell yeah, if you don’t ask more than litres of beer and peroxide blondes going all omg-omg-like totally-hihihihi on plain tunes, our lil’ ole town really is the place to Hassel your Hoff. But if you, on the other hand, prefer the purple-coloured combination of dance- music -sex- romance, the city often seems a barren wasteland. Temposphere strives to quench these party needs by presenting something quite different: something funky, something fresh, something to blow your mind.

Last week Spacid, Cait Sith, Ed& Kim and Commonphase were on duty to get kids dancey. And you believe me cats, they did a hell of a good job.
Rumba was crowded, but not too, leaving Leuven’s hardest party harders ample space to do what they do best: show off their tightest moves and spill beer on my shoes. The warmth was effin killing, the music hotter than chili sauce and the pretty party people got lo-lo on the ground: time to chase the glowing hours with flying feet!

Cait Sith teamed up with Ed& Kim’s Kim to set the place on fire. The combination of a turntable veteran (that, according to sources of most questionable reliability, also likes to play topless sets in the quality of Edwina&Kimberly) and rising star Cait Sith (that man who likes to compare spinning to sex on, yes sir, our national radio) resulted in a dynamic mix that kept girls dancing and guys buying them beer.

Spacid made himself the subject of Yves’ latest wet dreams, but frankly, Yves wasn’t the only one going bezoomny on the fierce set Kozzmozz-man Spacid let loose on the dancing crowd. Surprisingly, he interweaved his usual and distinguished choice of records with some more popular, and perhaps more Leuven-suited sounds, like our beloved Crookers and kindred spirits. He’s a master who knows just how to play his puppets.

Commonphase were the ones to burn this Troy and they sure did it in style. Their funky stirring beats made us easily set aside the aching feet, swirling heads and plastered douches getting un petit peu too familiar. Till the early hours, they kept us shaking it like a Polaroid picture. (By the way, sweethearts, you don’t shake polaroids. Okey? Just don’t.)

Humphrey Bogart said it just right when he mumbled: ‘Play it again, Sam.’ And our personal Sammies, Matthias& Yves, will be playing it again next month. And you better be there, ‘cause..
I was dreaming when I wrote this, so forgive me if this goes astray, but Temposhere sure means party like it’s 1999!

Chart Nation

2008-10-08T18:06:00.014+02:00

My job at Raveslave consists in adding a dash of trash to the omelet of chilled out yet awesome tracks. Insecure as I am (read: lazy) I decided to call in the help of some friends, to help me out in delivering a selection of charts - containing 5 songs they go apeshit over at the moment. Not wanting to bore anyone else with pointless stories (read: lazy) I'll just get right to it:

Ed & Kim (Stu Bru, Breakdown):
Raven - Proxy
Pocket Piano (Joakim Rmx) - DJ Mehdi
Bust a Move (Diplo Rmx) - Young MC
Fake MF - Ampersand
Shake it Down - Laidback Luke & A-Trak

Goldfox (RaveOurSouls):
Comptine d'un autre été: l'après-midi - Yann Tiersen & Jay Haze
Second Phase (Redshape CTX Mix) - Mentasm
Inordertodance (Alexander Kowalski Rmx) - Housemeister
Turkish Testosterone - Adriano Canzian
Putto - Lee Mortimer

Lazerface:
Innocence (Sinden Rmx) - Björk
Old Skool is My Skool - Jamie Fanatic
Riddle of Steel - Guns n Bombs

Get Up (Diplo Rmx) - Bingo Players
Say Aha (Tepr Rmx) - Santogold

The Subs (Lektroluv rec.):
Bonzai Channel One - Thunderball
La Serena - Aqua Contact
Technarky - Cybersonic
Acid Phase - Emmanuel Top

Pizzaman - Cisco Kid

Commonphase (Temposphere, TV OFF):
Shocked - Jay Haze, Fuck Pony
Bass Shake The Ground - CLP
You've Been Magnetized (Green Edit) - Mr Magnetik
Offshore (The Phantom's Revenge Rmx) - Division Kent
Neon Human - Felix da Housecat

Der Schmetterling (Infected Music):

Focker (Boys Noize Terror Re-Did) - Late of the Pier
Positif - Mr Oizo
Get Up (Diplo Remix) - Bingo Players
Gorilla - Idiotproof
The Floor - Bangkok Impact

Jules X (Dominion):

Dance in Dark - Proxy
Glamorous Life - Sheila E
Crimewave - Crystal Castles
From Whom the Bell Tolls - Metallica
Brooklyn Queens - 3rd Bass

Deejay Tall (MODFest):

Cheap and Cheerful (Fake Blood Rmx) - The Kills
Bloodlines (Hervé's love's messed up mix) - Dúné
Jack U (JFK MSTRKRFT edit) - Diddy vs Felix da Housecat
Quadrofonia (Dysfunktion Mix) - Terrabyte
Angel of Death (Punchamidaface pt. 2) - DJ Ayres

Jay Lee (Less Toys More Noise):

Soleil (Delete's Vocal Mix) - Johnny D
Church of Nonsense - Daniele Papini
Dinamicro (Karotte by Gregor Tresher Rmx) - Luca & Paul
Mr Dry - TG
Trompeta - Sis

What would MacGyver do?

2008-10-01T16:45:00.004+02:00

Normally we don’t do mp3s, but once in a while an unsigned Belgian artist pops up who I really think you should hear. This was the case with Lazerface (whose “Face the lazer” recently has been picked up by Acid Girls who featured it in their set on Fluokids), and now there’s City on Fire. This is the alter ego of DJ Mellow, a 19-year-old D.I.M-ish electro producer whose tracks have already received air time on Belgian (Studio Brussels) and British (BBC 1) national radio.

If you thought a bloke you’ve seen pole dancing and jumping up and down like a madman to Les Petits Pilous couldn’t make subtle music, Mellow proves you wrong. The “City on fire theme” is a touching, melancholic soundtrack. Imagine a film about the planet Mingli inhabited by these elflike creatures. There has been raging a war between the Mingli and Morgal elves since 1 gazillion years. The Mingli elves, who are the native inhabitants of the planet and now a minority, are being oppressed by the Morgal elves, an evil tribe that invaded Mingli. In an epic battle Mazinghar, the Mingli crown prince and the elves’ last hope for victory, gets killed and the scene afterwards we see Marridor, the Mingli king, carry his dead son in his arms through the streets of Minglod town (their last stronghold). I’m telling you, the “City on fire theme” would be extremely fit to accompany that scene.

City on fire – City on fire theme

Also check out this Voltron DJ set. Balancing the best of nu-disco and electro, the Aalst-based duo is in my view one the most promising talents around. They co-throw the popular “Smack my pitch up” parties and they have regular appearances at the News Café in Brussels. In November they’ll also be playing Raveslave crew member Cait Sith’s TV OFF, together with Institubes’ Bobmo!

Voltron mixtape for Panik FM

Voltron - Intro
Kathy Diamond - All Woman (instrumental version)(Permanent Vacation)
Silver City - Pendulo (Pete Herbert Edit) (Deep Freeze Recordings)
Mickey Oliver - In-Ten-Si-T (Justin Robertson Edit) (Harmless)
Wolfgang Gartner - Bounce (Kindergarten)
Les Rythmes Digitales - Brothers (Astralwerks)
Stabbed - (Theme From) Chicago (Riton's Maximal House Re-Edit)(Skylax)
Tomski & Fredboy - Do The Tartelet (Tartelet Records)
A-trak & Laidback Luke - Shake It Down (CDR)
The Prodigy - Charly (Blow Up Records)
Proxy - Raven (CDR)
Ghecko - Firelight (instrumental version)(Flexx Records)
Kano - Ikeya Seki (Hispavox)
Force Of Nature - I-ight (Mule Musiq)
FPI Project - Rich In Paradise (instrumental mix)(ZYX Records)
The Shortwave Set - Now Til '69 (Aeroplane Remix)(PIAS)
Lykke Li - Everybody But Me (Diskjokke Remix)(Warner Music)

http://www.myspace.com/thatcityisnotsafeanymore
http://www.myspace.com/voltrondjs

WWW06 - Housemeister interview

2008-09-26T02:56:00.008+02:00

Ready for take-off is over (We had a blast, how about you?), but we still owe you an interview with the headliner of the evening: Housemeister - Housi to his fans and Martin Böhm to the police officer who’d fine him for double parking (if Housi were to be double parked and if he has a car of course).

Hey Martin! For starters: Congratulations on your great album!
Thanks a lot, mate! Also watch out for the remixes of the album, coming out on my own label Allyoucanbeat. They’re from Boys Noize, Siriusmo, Alexander Kowalski and CLP to name a few. The limited part one vinyl is out now and the second one (and also the cd) will be released mid-October. I’m actually really happy about them. Until now nobody had ever remixed Housemeister tracks, I was quite weary of it, but now I have nine fuckin’ good ones! Don’t miss out on them!

Tiefschwarz say: “It doesn’t matter whether you use analog synths or software to produce tracks: What matters is the result.” How would you react to that? We know that you’re addicted to analog hardware.
Yeah, they’re right! What matters is the result. But still, I don’t like to work this way, because I like having fun in the studio. I just love the session, and I love my modified old and new machines (analog and digital) and programming step sequencers. The difference with external machines or synths is that you go into a shop and buy them. You get a user’s manual and you get the opportunity to really dominate the machine. The knobs are always in the same place and after a few years you know the machine inside-out and you perfectly know what each knob does. It’s also very interesting that every synth or drum machine has its own personality; like noises, mistakes, tightness and stuff. That adds the soul to the music, it becomes alive!

What music do you listen to at home?
There are quite a lot of things, but unfortunately I don’t have a lot of time to listen to music at home. When I do have some spare time, I really love to listen to my old school stuff. You know, like 2 Live Crew, Beasty Boys, Stereo MC’s and De la Soul. I also like Jazz for the Jetset, Radio, David Bowie, The Doors, EBM, dub and funk soul records, synthesizer and industrial stuff, Kraftwerk, Die Ärzte, 80’s hits and old rave records, but also new stuff from the Streets, Mr.Oizo or Siriusmo. All the music I love I own on vinyl myself, also the full albums. That way it’s easier for me to find back the track I’m looking for. I actually don’t have a lot of respect for CDs and my MP3 player is mostly off. I admit it, I’m old school.

Did you know there’s an artist named Housemeisters who did a very cheesy remix on Kontor of the Bucketheads track “The bomb”?
Fuck this guy! What does he want from me?!

What will you be up to in the near future?
At the moment I’m busy doing remixes for Cassius, Zombie Nation, Jahcoozi, Alexander Kowalski and CLP. I’m also planning on making my new album with just a Playstation portable! On September 25 I’m already doing a live act with my PSP and a Kaozzpad.

What can the audience expect from your set in Landen September 19?
Maybe a burning dance floor? Yeah!

Danke schön!

(Normally we're posting Housi's set on RFT-O as well, but we don't have any news about that yet)

Ready For Take-Off

2008-09-17T19:41:00.002+02:00

Last February the sixth graders of a high school in Tienen celebrated their graduating with a banging party. The line-up featured most of Limburg’s finest deejays (Ed&Kim! Redhead! Goldfox! Der Schmetterling!), Raveslave crew member Liss. and eclectic wonderboy Jules X. The night was one to be remembered: the venue was packed, booze flowed richly, DJs were spinning at their best and happy faces were spotted all over the place. So… end of story, right?

Wrong. The man behind the successful party nourished ambitious plans. This region offered great possibilities for a party concept. He teamed up with his big brother and together, they set up to organize a follow-up to the first Ready For Take-Off. It wasn’t an easy job though. The path they came down was covered with obstacles. Finding a decent location, for example, turned out to be a bit of a stumbling block. And their initial headliner decided to cancel barely a month before the party takes place and finding an equally good substitute wasn’t child’s play.

Still, the boys weren’t thrown back by these unfortunate events and the final result of their labour will certainly pass inspection. Headliner Housemeister second longplayer Who Is That Noize, released earlier this year, was hailed as a great fusion exercise between electro and techno. His track Inordertodance is an absolute belter and has been wreaking havoc on dance floors ever since its release. Suffice to say that this man has earned his rep and will cause dance floor mayhem on the 19th. Antwerp’s Fanklub DJs, also known for their Blast Your Ghetto parties, will be sharing the decks with Housi, as will DJ all-stars Ed&Kim. Our very own Liss. will close up shop with a special deep electro-minimal set whereas the Ghent-based duo Ultravid will open the festivities. See you there?

For more info, check Ready For Take-Off’s MySpace here

Wondering-While-Wandering mixtape 04

2008-09-06T16:16:00.012+02:00

More than two months overdue, the fourth mixtape in our WWW-series is finally online. To make it up, we’ve also added an interview with this time’s guest, Hardrock Striker. This French-American is quite the busy bee. He is DJ, producer and party promoter. Hardrock Striker is the man behind three running concepts in Paris - Cosmic Club, Kick out the 12”s and the Skylax parties - that cover a wide range of genres, going from italo to house and electro. Previous guests include the likes of Radio Slave, Daniele Baldelli, Justin Robertson, Steve Kotey from Chicken Lips, Chateau Flight, Riton and many more. At the same time Hardrock Striker also runs the Skylax label and booking agency. The label counts twelve releases so far and mainly offers Hardrock Striker’s own work and re-released old gems (Marshall Jefferson, Mr Fingers, Mike Dunn) with remixes of Prins Thomas, Optimo and In Flagranti to name but a few. Let’s listen to the man himself.

The Belgian crowd is not that familiar with you. Tell us something about your accomplishments in the music business.

I have been working for years to reintroduce some forgotten legends to the scene. For instance, I’ve been one of the first to bring back disco don Daniele Baldelli in Paris. The club was not so crowded, but all the key people (Gilb’r and I:Cube from Versatile, Romain BNO, Miss Kittin & The Hacker, ...) were present and Baldelli played an amazing set. When he stopped playing, everybody stood up and applauded. I was very proud at that moment. Usually people don’t get it, they need the magazines and the buzz to make them understand when something’s hot.

Next to organising parties in Paris I’m also busy releasing music. I started out with the label Parisonic/ Square roots (which doesn’t exist anymore) in 2003, releasing some tracks from Manu Dibango (from his great album Africadelic), with remixes from Jazid / Lindstrom’s first band, nobody knew him back then but I knew already that he was great. I also released tracks of Butch Cassidy Soundsystem, one of the first to combine electro with heavy metal guitars (check the Black Limited mix). Later came releases of for example Kleeer, Stevie Poindexter and Farley Jackmaster Funk.

I guess it’s my work to re-release some timeless tracks that still sound so right at this moment. It’s very important to me to bring the kids back to the old school vibe. This is how you can create a great DJ mix, by including modern and timeless tracks. You can create a story and it makes sense.

I also remember the release of Ralphi Rosario’s “In the night” (Gusgus rmx) on Square roots in 2004 (probably the best known release on the label). That track received massive feedback (from Trevor Jackson and James Murphy amongst others) and also Ivan Smagghe was playing it a lot. He even compiled it on his Death Disco compilation. At that time I was also doing an administration management for him and the best future French DJs: Jennifer Cardini, Chloé, Dan Ghenacia, Djul’z and Jef K.

Another thing that I’m proud of is the support from king of re-edits DJ Harvey. He for instance compiled my remix of Martin Circus “Disco Circus” on his Sonic Disco #1.

I found it peculiar I wasn’t able to find your real name anywhere. Is it that awful or are you just a modest man?

I prefer to stay underground, so Hardrock Striker is the right moniker for me. My motto has always been “Stay underground, it pays”. This also was the idea behind my first record company called Parisonic/ Square roots. With Skylax our motto now is “Music for dancers, music as an alternative". I guess it’s quite a logical extension.

What is your opinion on the nu-rave electro scene that seems to be dominating Paris these days?

Honestly, I am not really into that. All these breaks and blips don’t appeal to me, the way I am mixing and building my sets is more progressive. About Justice, Ed Banger and so on: They are doing great and I am happy for them. It really helps pushing the French scene. However, for one good pop band like Justice, you have 1000 of imitators with a very cheap sound and poor inspiration. This genre won’t last and I feel like it’s over already. Only true originals will stay.

Is there a new Skylax coming up? And when can we expect the next Hardrock Striker EP? It’s already been more than six months since your last release!

Yes! I have just signed Beppe Loda as Italowerk. His first EP is mad as hell, underground italo electro (circa 1982) with a modern vibe to it. He really is the man to me right now. I have also signed Bogus & Bonnes, two guys from Modena, Italy. They sound like a modern version of Klein & MBO. You know that normally I prefer to re-release old tracks with brand new remixes next to my own productions, but I have the feeling those guys wrote some amazing tracks that could still be played in 20 years.

Obviously I’m also working on the new Hardrock Striker EP, featuring a very special collaboration, but I can’t tell you more on that right now. Last but not least, I’m doing re-edits on Cosmic Club under the moniker Cosmic Club Mastercuts.

Our own Belgian Glimmers played one of your parties recently, how did they do?

I contacted them because I’ve always loved what they were and are doing. They are real crate diggers (remember their Serie Noire compilation, a must have) and very charming men. Moreover, they really know how to manage a crowd!

To end with, suppose you were asked to compile a CD with your favourite sex tracks, which track(s) would surely be on it?

Tony Sylvester “Pazuzu” (Hardrock Striker Supreme Orgasm Re-edit). I guess it speaks for itself!

You can download Hardrock Striker’s exclusive mixtape here! Prepare for an italo ride, from the past to the future and back.

Check the Skylax myspace here.

New Goodies

2008-08-24T20:12:00.009+02:00

Een smeltkroes van deephouse, soulvolle minimal én… Belgische FuNk!

Vernon & Dacosta – On fire

Recentelijk mochten ze bij Aroma, hét Belgische house label bij uitstek, 10 kaarsjes uitblazen en dit mocht uiteraard niet onopgemerkt voorbijgegaan. Head Honcho Raoul ‘Swirlpeople’ Belmans kwam dan ook gepast met een 10 years Aroma sampler op de proppen. Daarop stonden alvast 3 tracks die de voorbode waren van de Aroma 10 Years Mix Cd, een cd die bol staat van nieuwe remixes. Het Belgische funkduo Vernon & Dacosta waren toen ook al van de partij om de track Changing van Brown & Steve Littlemen in een nieuw zomers kleedje te steken. Nu enkele weken later, laat het tweetal opnieuw van zich horen en ditmaal met een nagelnieuwe release van eigen hand op het zusterlabel, A second smell. Dit label belicht de meer funky kant van house en heeft zichzelf ter harte genomen enkel puur dansvloermateriaal te releasen voor in peaktime sets. Denk maar aan de housebom Calling Chicago van de SoulMigrantz. De track On fire van Vernon & Dacosa breidt nu een vervolg aan deze reeks van uitstekende releases en getuigt wederom van een staaltje vakmanschap. De aanstekelijke vocals, funky pianosynths en jackin’ basslijn zullen ongetwijfeld voor aroma en geur aan menig dansvoeten zorgen.

David Durango – Move with me

Totally feeling this guy! Recentelijk nog zijn Myspace afgeschuimd, op zoek naar ‘zijn’ sound. De tracks in zijn chart voor de maand augustus zijn stuk voor stuk pareltjes en de muziek in zijn musicplayer strookt volledig met mijn hedendaagse visie op house en minimal. Maar naast een – voor mij alvast – uitstekende reputatie op gebied van platenkeuze, weet deze Spanjaard ook hoe de vork in de steel zit als het op producen aankomt. Met zijn release Move with me op Pokerflat zou hij wel eens dé summer burner van het najaar op zak kunnen hebben. Move with me begint meteen veelbelovend: een stevige basslijn, een zwoele vrouwelijke vocal en soulvolle, korte flarden van synths. Gaandeweg word je helemaal gefascineerd – lees: gedrogeerd – door de hypnotiserende beats. Uiteindelijk ontpopt Move with me zich tot een minimal-housemonster waarvan je haar op de armen omhoog komt te staan. Labelbaas Steve Bug mag zich dus wederom een gelukkig man prijzen, want met David Durango heeft hij opnieuw een goudhaantje binnen zijn rangen. Move with me: something to move your mind, body & soul.

Jona – Sunset

Met releases op het Berlijnse label Get Physical en Carl Craigs (!) planet E, is Jonathan Troupin aka Jona niet alleen de meeste toonaangevende artiest van de Belgische house- en technoscene, maar maakt hij tegelijkertijd ook heel wat furore op internationaal gebied. De jonge Belgische producer begon zijn carrière met releases op labels zoals Resopal en Fumakilla, maar hij overtuigde de wereld pas echt van zijn kunnen met zijn debuut in 2006 voor Get Physical, meer bepaald The Learnings. Sindsdien duwt hij zichzelf naar ongekende hoogtes, met een van mijne persoonlijke hedendaagse favorieten, Altiplano op Planet E. Jona heeft voor zijn gloednieuwe track Sunset andermaal de saxofoon vanonder het stof gehaald en het lijkt alvast opnieuw een schot in de roos te zijn. Wat op het eerst zicht zo eenvoudig lijkt, is bij nader inzien dodelijk effectief. De soulvolle en funky saxofoongeluiden smelten heerlijk samen met een groovy en rollin’ basslijn: 8 minuten vol verrukkelijke (Belgische) funk!

Wondering-While-Wandering mixtape 05

2008-08-19T15:26:00.010+02:00

We tend to behave in a contrary way, I admit, but this is not an act of rebellion: mixtape 05 in the “Wondering while wandering” series is coming before the 04! The fourth mixtape, by Hardrock Striker, has arrived by post (the man is really old school!), but we’re having technical problems getting it online. So in order not to be too long overdue, we decided to post the fifth panel of our infinite painting now.

The boys from Ultravid were on mix duty this time, and we’re very glad to have them over. Ultravid is one of the most promising talents of the flux of creativity coming from Ghent, the city of 2manydjs and the Glimmers. Delivering a mix of fidget house and baile funk topped off with a twist of ravyness, the duo comes with a guarantee on dance floor madness. They soon outgrew their hometown and currently they’re prowling around parties all over Belgium (Tendaysoff! Bangers! Infected Music!), spinning next to the likes of Busy P, Etienne De Crecy, The Proxy and many more. Beside DJ’ing, Ultravid also hosts the successful Ghent-based Cish Cash parties, to which they’ve already invited Jean Nipon, Casper C and Daniel Haaksman. It’s clear that the Ultravid moniker suits them well: they have all of Belgium in their eyesight.

As I said, Ultravid normally stands for dance floor mayhem, but for us they wanted to do something special. They decided to dig up the gold nuggets (old and new) of their record collection, delivering a coherent mix of disco, electronica, house, electro, fidget and… Vanessa Paradis!

You can download it here

Tracklist
ambra - release [white rose]
ali renault - our world is... [dissident]
ratatat - mirando [xl]
mdslktr - the wedding toccata theme [bpitch]
cadence weapon - messages matter [upper class]
drums of death - adova 1 [avant]
discodromo - cosmorama [Internasjonal]
seiji - rasberries [sonar kollektiv]
etienne jaumet - repeat again after me [versatile]
jackson & his computer band - radio caca [warp]
siriusmo - lastdear [boysnoize]
peter visti - tokyo by night [eskimo]
kruton - nitro hassle [dissident]
photonz - shaboo (andy's edit) [dissident]
laurent x - machines [house nation]
machines don't care - trouble on the floor [machines don't care]
laidback luke & a-trak - shake it down [cdr]
thomas bangalter - outrun [roulé]
chemical brothers - electronic battle weapon 3 [freestyle dust]
belle & sebastian - funny little frog [rough trade]
vanessa paradis - be my baby [polydor]
666 - the four horsemen [vertigo]

You can check out Ultravid's myspace here and the Cish Cash myspace here

Shake it like a Sovjet

2008-07-12T22:03:00.003+02:00

It took me my deepest décolleté and I had to punch some bitches in the weak spots, like, real hard in that mud wrestling contest, but it was worth it.
I’ve never been happier then when those darling Raveslave kids sent me across the Iron Curtain to report about my Eastern Bloc Parties. I promised them to be the high-heeled, drinking and swearing version of Tintin in the Land of the Soviets. Quoi qu’il en soit, I decided to Czeck out what ex-bolshevist, Lada-driving and vodka-lurking communists party like. And for that sort of private investigations, there’s no better place than Roxy Klub, in Prague, Czech Republic.

Should you pussycats ever end up in Roxy Klub, there’s three things you’ve got to keep in mind. One: if you dress stylish, the KGB will arrest you and send you to the Gulag. It’s fricking cold over there, so kids: don’t do style. Two: “Kanaplja” is actually Russian, but those sweetheart Czech kids understand it perfectly well. And three: Bohemian-style absinth is infamous for a reason.

Deciding to go partyhardy in Praha is one thing, getting there is um- another. I had the incredibly bad idea to trust my brother on the ‘men have better orientation skills’-thing. Lost in the small Prague streets, I cursed my belief that men are as good at finding the way as they are at finding the closing of your bra. I mean, if you see the speed and efficiency that they usually go straight for their objective with… But that’s my next blog.

So after, like, 7 hours of roaming, we finally arrived at Roxy Klub. The club wasn’t the tightest I’ve ever seen, but I guess, trendy in a Marxist-kind of way. The place looks like an old warehouse or something, lots of concrete and dirt, and holes in the fricking floor. Holes, by Jove!, and I was wearing high heels. Ah well, at least I could, little hypocrite that I am, use the holes as an excuse for my stumbling and staggering, rather than the absinth.

Something completely inexcusable, on the other hand, is the way people dress over there. You know that kind of cheap shapeless t-shirts you win at a lottery for some charity thing for blind disabled Chinese orphans with aids? Helluww- they’re meant to wash your car with, not to be WORN! And for the whores- sorry, I mean: the girls- the battle cry apparently was: “put a stamp on your ass and call it a skirt”. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a total fan of the ‘show some leg’-concept. But. Those Czech chicks. Have. FUCKINGUE. Cellulite. All over their fat communist upper legs, for reals! Pathetic.

They were playing some sort of techno, nuff pounding, but still a little boring. It sounded actually much like a bread machine. (I know this because my dad thinks it’s oldskool to bake whole grain bread on Sundays. He’s such a darling man in his midlife.) The music was an unrecognizable stream of beats to me, and the line-up, consisting of Yanota, Steen vs Keeper and some other dudes didn’t really ring a bell either. If all of you smart kids now jump up in indignation, hurling: ‘who ever asked this ignoramus to join our beloved Raveslave!’, well I guess it’s actually Niels you should blame. I won the all-you-can-booze, not the say-something-clever-‘bout-the-music, remember?

Anyway, I didn’t know the dj’s, and that, together with quite a lot of cheap absinthe, left me looking like a confused little capitalist lost in the USSR. But Czech boys are extremely lovable (I called them all Kafka, for reasons of simplicity), the place was spanking and not a single kitten in the club that wasn’t shaking his Czech ass off. It was mad, an unceasing daze of sweaty bodies swayed to the music, flashing lights reflected on bare skin and the beats that control your body. A true MOAB of a party.

An exiting moment, considering my dj-slut reputation, was when this douchebag was dancing just a petit peu too close to me, and some other ugly dude yelled in my ear: ‘That’s Stifler, he’s a dj here!’. The Stifler-guy was as handsome as an abortion, but the fake blondes nearby almost burned their cellulite with jealousy and Dj Douchebag bought me pink cocktails, so I put on my most arrogant face and enjoyed my newly obtained groupie status.

Up till the point where the Stifler-thing got too conceited, placing his sweaty hands on my derrière and demanding ‘a naaaiizz lietell kiesss’. There it was, Friggin Czech Groupie Walhalla, and I was right there. But Stiffie stank from cheap beer, and I was still not wankered enough to fall for ugly boys. So I smiled and said: ‘Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold.’ And carefully avoiding eine Hüre who had just puked on her own pumps, I hauled my brother away from his Matroesjkas, and started stumbling my way to the exit. On high heels. With those fricking holes in the floor. But elegance is refusal, as Coco used to say.

Lazerface

2008-07-12T21:39:00.002+02:00

Just a quickie to spread the word about a track we recently found out about. Do you like those kind of tracks that have a smooth build-up, a touching melody, gentle tweaks and seem to last forever? The following track has none of those characteristics. So what makes it special then?

Face The Lazer is one of those tracks that'll create dancefloor madness and bleeding eardrums. The track evokes memories of Surkin's awe-inspiring White Knight Two but is less subtle and even more suited for burning down the house.

You can download it here

You can check Lazerface's MySpace here

Polka techno

2008-07-02T11:17:00.002+02:00

Recently we organised an all-you-can-booze contest, a mud wrestling competition and an IQ test (in that specific order) to find the perfect female blogger to add to the Raveslave team. The winner in all categories was Annelore. Since her exams are over, we found it was high time for her first post. We gave her 10 000 euros from the gazillion Raveslave budget and sent her over to the former Soviet Union. Her goal is to investigate and report about the club life after the Bolsheviks. Are the rumours true that they dance the polka to techno in Warsaw? We’ll soon find out.

Some fresh new Goodies

2008-06-28T16:23:00.026+02:00

Manmade Science - Akiele EP

Manmade Science keert terug naar Philpot en dat juist wanneer ze bij het label hun 30ste verjaardag vieren. Het lijk wel hét verjaardagsgeschenk bij uitstek: de EP is simpelweg een wonderbaarlijk stukje disco-house. De hoofdtitel Akiele kenmerkt zich door een ongelooflijke diepe en hypnotiserende deephouse groove. They like to wath en Meandyou zijn respectievelijk twee stunnin' vocaltracks. De soulphiction dub mix van Get your head up rondt deze voortreffelijke EP uiteindelijk af.

Daso - Numb

Het label Connaisseur Supérieur is weer een track van jewelste rijker en dit maal prijkt hij op het conto van Daso. De Duitser met de übercoole moustache smijt met Numb alle registers open en levert een resolute dansvloerkiller af. Waar z'n zeemzoete track Meine Idee nog zachtjes nazindert, is met Numb regelrecht de toon gezet en geeft Daso er een stevige lap op. Bij Connaisseur Supérieur kunnen ze er moeilijk een stijl opkleven en manen ze aan Numb te bewaren voor special occasions. Een ding staat alvast als een paal boven water: this one will cause damage on the dancefloor.

Oleg Poliakov - House moujik

Nadat Rusland op het EK heel wat furore heeft gemaakt - en mij dermate heeft weten te bekoren -, ben ik op zoek gegaan naar de Guus Hiddink van het Russische muzieklandschap. Ik botste uitendelijk op volgende mysterieuze producer Skat aka Oleg Poliakov. Na zijn meer dan geslaagde release op Circus Company in 2007, komt hij weer op de proppen met twee uitermate groovy tracks met Chicago en Detroit invloeden. Midnight Vultures profileert zich met zijn jacking drums en stevige baslijn. De b-kant, On The Edge Of The Wood, is een warme en diepe deephouser that makes you wanna dance!

We can do it - Llamame

Afsluiten doe ik met een plaat die wel eens dé voorbode van de zwoele zomeravonden zou kunnen zijn. Het eerder onbekende Berlijnse label We can do it heeft nog maar enkele releases op haar palmares prijken, maar dit maal is het wel een schot in de roos met de track Llamame. Llamame ontpopt zich tot een minimal-house monster en het label doet haar reputatie van catchy vocals opnieuw alle eer aan. De Engelse equivalent "Call me", die bijna onophoudelijk over de beats rolt, zorgt ervoor dat deze track ideaal is om iedere party op gepaste wijze af te sluiten. Of juist ook niet...

Cait Loves Turbo

2008-06-08T17:54:00.004+02:00

Turbo Recordings celebrates it’s 10 year anniversary, so wave those motherfuckers like you just don’t care! For those who missed it: the Turbo Label Night at Blast Your Ghetto was a bomb!

As far as party reviews go, I’ll keep things short: Fanklub DJ’s rocked, Thomas von Party was amazing and The Proxy’s live set was pretty much a re-run of how God created the universe. Best I’ve heard in years! (he refused to take my word for it at the time, but Zhenya, if you read this: I wasn’t drunk and I was totally serious).

On another note: Fraulein got wasted, Goldfox did not. Der Schmetterling scored poontang, Cait did.. an interview with Mr Turbo Recordings, Tiga’s younger brother and the whitest guy ever to wear an afro: Thomas von Party. James Brown is dead, meet the new hardest working man in showbizz:

10 years Turbo, congrats! Antwerp was amazing.. what more can we expect from Turbo this year?
We have a lot planned to celebrate: a really cool compilation CD with a book featuring all of Tiga's amazing infosheets, albums from Proxy and Jori Hulkkonen, 8 terrific 12"s, more than 30 tour dates and a very ambitious new website. Oh, and lots of T-shirts.

Where do you fit exactly at the label?
It's a very small operation, so I do a bit of everything, really... I deal with the artists, production, promo, work with the online stores, listen to demos, run the podcast, organize events... basically just answer emails all day :)

I’m pretty sure Proxy is gonna be thé name of 2008. You discovered him through myspace. An inspirational story for young producers all over the world..
Totally... it's a great vibe. Before we signed him he didn't even have a passport!! He's a wonderful guy and extremely talented. Not that many young producers have as distinctive and powerful a 'sound' as Proxy... and he's really hitting his stride now with amazing new remixes for Moby and Digitalism. It's also inspiring because he's not coming from New York or London or Berlin... he's coming from a little suburb outside of Moscow, relatively speaking it's a cultural vacuum... and I'm glad that I found him on myspace because it partly justifies all the time I've wasted on that site!

When can we expect a Thomas von EP? Not interested at all to go there?
I just did a remix of Moby actually with a friend of mine, Brad Lamborghini. It'll be on the upcoming Moby remixes - Turbo 054. It's just a rough acid track, but I'm happy to have put something out to get the ball rolling. I'm a total beginner in the studio but I feel confident that I'll be releasing some more stuff this year... remixes are probably more likely at this stage, a bit less daunting when you have some structure and some sounds to start with.

How do you get your fro so perfect? All natural?
No, it's a wig.

Introducing...

2008-05-17T22:28:00.003+02:00

Just a quickie to say that another blogger has been added to the team. Since our Raveslave clubhouse was dominated by testosterone-fueled alpha males, we decided to 'employ' someone who could steady the balance - if only a little...

Some say it's her ambition to be the first blogster on the moon; others claim Amy Winehouse has hired her to stand in while she finally goes to rehab. We simply believe her name is Annelore. In the future, she'll be reporting on her party experiences, donc attendez-vous aux histoires sur des fêtards plein d'hormones et des DJs avec des looks moitié nerd, moitié electro; aux histoires sur des kilos de cocaïne et des endroits où il est impossible de bouger; et, je l'avais presque oublié, des histoires sur la musique...

Unfortunately, you'll have to wait some time before you get to see her in action because it's that time of the year again. Hell is going to be hot indeed.

wondering while wandering 3

2008-05-17T20:16:00.003+02:00

I've always had a particular fondness of DJ compilations. Often this format is the closest you'll ever get to getting to know a DJ because it's consists of tracks that the DJ loves. And unlike when spinning a DJ set, he doesn't have to care about the semi-drunken party-goers' mood or the requirements put forward by shady clubnight organisers. A DJ mix allows the DJ to include whatever tracks he damn well pleases, which is what makes it so interesting...

Liss' trademark preference for funky, and thus very danceable tracks is already well established in these regions. His WWW-mix offers a bunch of tracks which are to be expected from someone with acclaimed taste: the classic Frank Knuckles take on Kasso's "One More Round", the mandatory In Flagranti track, the funky nü-disco action in the shape of Telespazio's "Galileo" and Baby Oliver's "Feelings 2", the devastating Riton remix of Sonny J's "Enfant Terrible".

All in all, this is a very coherent, fluently mixed compilation of exquisite tracks, just the way we like 'em.

You can download Liss' WWW-mixtape here.

Tracklist
01. Kasso – One more round (Frankie Knuckles rmx)
02. In Flagranti – Coquine (Sanctuary mix)
03. Telespazio – Galileo (Rodion rmx)
04. Baby Oliver - Feelings 2
05. Chef – Toccating (Tomboy rmx)
06. Headman – Running into time (Le le edit)
07. Lottergirls – Love is dope (Diskokaine rmx)
08. Sonny J – Enfant terrible (Riton rmx)
09. Adonis – We're rocking down the house
10. Systeme Imaginique – The sublime moment

There's something about Theo Parrish

2008-05-09T20:17:00.004+02:00

Detroit-based DJ/producer Theo Parrish has made a movie for Adidas which completely slipped my attention until today. The 'story line' of this short movie is just as simple as it is beautiful: a camera crew follows Theo Parrish while he walks through the streets of Detroit, collecting everyday sounds to use in a track. As you'll see, there's nothing hip to this movie. We don't see images of skyscrapers and monuments and what not. We get to see the suburbs of the city and the people living in it. At first, it seems nothing special at all but to me, this movie is a piece of art.

Adidas gave Theo a chance to show what his hometown means to him. He loves it so much that he uses sounds from his city to use in his tracks so that other people get to hear a little bit of Detroit. It appears that Theo Parrish wants to give something back to Detroit in his own way. Adidas presented him that opportunity and he grabbed it with both hands.

We don't only get to see what Detroit means for Theo, but he also presents the viewer his ideas on music: "Certain sounds, depending on how they're ranged, take certain shapes. They take up a certain space in my mind. And the influences come everytime I wake up or go out, there's always a certain influx of music that I'm collecting, so those always have an influence. If your records aren't grabbing people emotionally, then you're really not doing anything." He also introduces his views on laptop DJ'ing and today's society wherein "honesty is at an all time low".

The song you hear in the movie, 'There's something about Detroit', is produced by Theo Parrish. It hasn't been released yet but it might this summer. You can read more on Theo Parrish and his point of views in this interview with Resident Advisor.

Russian menace

2008-04-19T22:54:00.004+02:00

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

2008-04-18T23:00:00.008+02:00

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

2008-04-17T21:39:00.007+02:00

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

2008-04-17T21:04:00.004+02:00

‘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!

Innerspans

2008-03-27T20:59:00.005+01:00

It's an unwritten rule in the techno business that a track has about a 3-month life span. But if you wait long enough, you can actually still spin some of those outdated tracks under the guise of "classic". This contrasts sharply with pop songs, which can still be heard on commercial airwaves years after their release. This morning for example, "Maneater" was my wake up call, followed by "Where The Streets Have No Name". It seems that in the techno bizz, people scowl at just about everyone who dares to remain idle longer than three months. You have to keep producing, remixing and it's even better if you come up with an album or get a chance to compile something.

Don't get me wrong, this is also the case in other niches of the music industry. I just have the distinct impression that the techno branch evolves faster than any other musical branch. Take the nü-rave scene, which is very dear to me, for instance: The sound of flag bearers such as Boys Noize (him again) and Justice is rapidly evolving. The former has created quite a mellow (for his standards at least) remix of Feist's "My Moon My Man" and an epic, genre-blending remix of Apparat's "Arcadia"; the latter's sound is getting increasingly poppy with singles such as "D.A.N.C.E" and "DVNO". Furthermore, the entire nü-rave scene is no longer the novelty it used to be about four years ago and I reckon that in a few years, this trend will get pushed to the outskirts of techno town by a new one.

Sometimes though, contemporary producers get nostalgic and huddle together to reminisce on how extraordinary some of these past trends really were. This is precisely what Innervisions honchos Âme and Dixon did during a trip to Japan. They even decided to revive some past glory: in May, an ambient compilation will be released on their label.

“At the beginning of the 90s it was normal to have an ambient floor on every bigger techno or house party", say the twosome. "This culture got lost in the new millenium though. It became a niche and went more into cultural activities. When we returned from Japan we spoke about that with some friends and artists, and all of them were inspired to make a contribution to this project. Even Klaus Schulze, one of the pioneers of electronic music.”

"Muting The Noise" comes together with a 60-page book and will be released on May 19, 2008.

Tracklist
01. Mark Pritchard & David Brinkworth - Sentience
02. Karma - Kon Tiki
03. Âme - Doldrums
04. Henrik Schwarz - Arthur
05. I:Cube - Nuées Ardentes
06. Tokyo Black Star - Kagura
07. Stefan Goldmann - Life After Death
08. Terre Thaemlitz - Get In And Drive
09. Kammerflimmer Kollektief - That's How The Light Gets In
10. Koss - Negai
11. Klaus Schulze - Invisible Musik

Promising...

2008-03-15T22:39:00.005+01:00

Basic Soul Unit: "I knew this day would come for you. Great releases." Beat Pharmacy: "Your time in the sun is coming." Quarion: "I love your new release." Zo luiden alvast enkele - dikverdiende - complimenten die de Brit Tony Lionni in bosjes krijgt toegeworpen. Daarenboven wordt hij reeds nu al op handen gedragen door niemand minder dan Chateau Flight en Âme Frank. Van een binnenkomer gesproken dus! De rookie -wat je bij het beluisteren van zijn tracks nauwelijks kan geloven - heeft nog maar 2 releases op zijn palmares prijken, toch heeft hij voor de buitenwereld reeds nu al zijn kunde geëtaleerd. Op Mule Electronic heeft de man uit Liverpool een van de spannendste tracks in een tijdje afgeleverd en recentelijker op Gilbert's Versatile records scheerde hij opnieuw hoge toppen.

Better Chance op Mule Electronic is een 3-tracker die je ongetwijfeld op zwier neemt op de dansvloer. Met zijn hypnotische, diepe piano- en synthtoetsen weet hij als geen ander die welbepaalde emoties bij je los te wekken. Een lust voor het oor, en dan vooral die Atjazz-achtige track Better Change!

Lionni gaat echter nog een stapje verder met zijn release Papaia/Shuffle op Versatile. Voor Papaia keert hij terug naar de essentie van house en minimal: een simplistiche beat en weinig pistes. Geleidelijk aan voegt hij er dan een lichte acid sound aan toe en wanneer je denkt dat je al het goede hebt gehad, slaat de melodie in als een bom. Prompt schieten me dan beelden te binnen van het alomgekende alle-handen-in-de-lucht-moment. Een absolute winner.

De B-zijde, Shuffle, weerspiegelt dan weer de diepere sound van Lionni. En opnieuw is het die stevige bass die je meteen naar de keel grijpt en zich samen met de subtiel gekozen percussie ontpopt tot een beestige nummer. So keep an eye on this guy!

Wondering-while-Wandering mixtape 01

2008-03-14T20:39:00.004+01:00

As you may already know, we've started a monthly mixtape series called "Wondering while Wandering". For those of you who don't have a clue on what's going on, check this.

This mixtape series is kicked off by Gweilo, who's not only a congenial fellow but also a good producer. The London based record label Dissident recently released his "Acolyte" on 12" and since there's only 200 copies available, you best hurry. Much like "Acolyte", all releases on Dissident are pretty much top quality. The label, which is ran by Andy Blake, has made sure all tastes are catered for so far, and it's making quite a furore since it's already receiving support from critically acclaimed deejays such as Ewan Pearson, Skull Juice and Monica Electronica among others. And what better way to discover some Dissident releases than listen to Gweilo's www-mixtape?

Now, we gave Gweilo carte blanche for this mix and the result was very much to our liking. The debut mixtape in the www-series has become a delightful mixture of italo, elektro, house and even minimal. Some fine Dissident records, a few classics (Ron Hardy! Steve Hurley!), an unexpected, minimalish LoSoul edit of "The Siren" and Larry Heard's concluding, blissful "The Sun Can't Compare" is all you need to feel on top of the world. You can download the first www-mixtape here

Tracklist
1.Naughty - Slave to the Dub (Moodmusic)
2.Alexander Robotnik - Made in China (Créme)
3.Truffle Club - Gone Blue (Dissident)
4.Gweilo - Acolyte (Dissident)
5.Marcus Mixx - The Spell - [Ron Hardy Mix] (Let's Pet Puppies)
6.Orgue Electronique - Stairway to the Ocean [JTC Remix] (Créme)
7.Ron Hardy - Muzic Box Classics V3 (Partehardy Records)
8.Valaree - I Love to Love (Diablo Records)
9.Baby Oliver - Hypochondriac (Environ)
10.UnknownmiX - The Siren [Losoul's Hot Edit] (Playhouse)
11.Midnight Steppers - Locked Out (Dissident)
12.Steve 'Silk' Hurley - Jack Your Body (DJ International)
13.Larry Heard - The Sun Can't Compare (Alleviated)

so... amaze me

2008-03-11T19:04:00.002+01:00

Although it's a little irritating to type, Justice's "D.A.N.C.E" is an amazing track. Unlike some other electro tracks("Hustler" and "Bodyrox" anyone?), it also had a massive videoclip made by So-Me. His talent didn't go by unnoticed and recently, he made a video for Kanye's "Good Life" which was even better than the D.A.N.C.E clip.

So just when you think the dude won't be able to top his former work anymore, he raises the bar once more and makes this absolutely magnicifent clip for my favorite track on Justice's album:

Justice - DVNO
Uploaded by machinemolle

And guess what: rumour has that he's working on a live-action feature-length film. I know, me too.

Hi, my name is..

2008-03-05T11:45:00.005+01:00

The friendly peeps here at Raveslave recently asked me to join their club, which came as quite a surprise, since I have no blogging experience. Ignoring the fact that I absolutely do not have the time for it, I still decided to go for it as I had already figured out earlier that this site offers quality posts. In other words: I’m honored to be the new contributor, and to kick things off, I’ll post my top 5 chart for this month.

N°1. Hercules & Love Affair: Blind
Last weekend while driving around, stereo somewhat ‘cranked up’, I suddenly found myself going berserk on a song which had been lurking about in my iPod for a few weeks, singing along to the coolest vocals ever (thank you Antony) with enthusiasm one can only afford within the safety of a car (or shower cabin when absolutely certain you’re the only one in the house).
At the red lights I noticed a blond girl in a mini cooper in the lane next to me giving me a “what the fuck?”, upon which I instantly replied with the Steven Seagal look: the fastest way to let somebody know you’re 100% straight.
But it was too late, Hercules & Love Affair’s latest disco anthem Blind had totally taken over my hormones, and it’ll do the same to you! For more info scroll down a few posts cause I’m pretty sure this song has already been introduced in this blog.

N°2. Mimo & Schmahl: Sometimes (Dapayk Remix)
I could fill a few lines praising the Craft Music label, but I won’t, since this remix on their latest release doesn’t sound Craft at all. All the same, it’s pure genius in all its simplicity. Words are useless for tracks like these, so I’ll just leave it up to your curiosity to seduce you in checking out this pearl.

N°3. Popof: Elektric Circus
Purchased this one on Beatport at 7pm, opened a set with it in Holland at 1am. 15 people got killed in the dancefloor mayhem that followed, and apparently this is happening all over Europe. Interpol already scrambled their best agents to find Popof, whose latest promo pic is a clear stab at European governments. Touché Popof, touché.

N°4. The Subs: Papillon
Just got off the phone with Wiebe aka Tonic aka Ginger Sub, who told me that Brodinski “finally” dropped off his remix for the new Subs bomb ‘Papillon’. I gave it a listen and think I’ll have to buy Brodi a drink at Breakdown XL this weekend, cause it absolutely kills. Production can now begin so expect this one to hit stores in about 3 months.

N°5. Sound of Stereo: Nic Nag
I’m probably the only person on the planet who doesn’t love fidget house producers Crookers (Big Money Comin is a great track though). Brussels based producer duo Sound of Stereo have clear similarities, but their forthcoming debut release ‘Nic Nag’, which I’ve been playing for a while now (I’ve known these guys for a long time), is absolutely worth mentioning. It’s been picked up by MTV to back up a commercial for their new mobile phone network, which is totally irrelevant, but pretty cool nonetheless.

Shack up

2008-03-04T19:21:00.004+01:00

Skull Disco's co-founder Shackleton is back with another mesmerizing track, called "Death is Not Final". Uniting minimal, dubstep and breaks, Shackleton's productions don't exactly fit into a particular category.

This track takes off where "Blood on My Hands" left us: the hypnotising percussion interweaves in such a complex fashion with the steadily present kickdrums that you need to turn the volume up all the way to fully comprehend the complexity of this track. And even then, you probably won't discover all its secrets. "Death is Not Final" is probably Shackleton's most grim, and yet most amazing production ever.

T++, Torsten Pröfrock's alter ego, is on remixing duty. He has created a much more dubbed version by omitting most of the percussion, which is by no means a bad thing. In fact, this version is equally good, if not better than the original.

The only thing I, and I'm really weighing my words here, loathe about this production is the artwork. It's drawn by someone (or something) called "Zeke". And all along I thought it was drawn by some 14-year-old goth chick who ventilates her misunderstood thoughts by sketching shite like this. Boy, was I wrong...

I’d like to share four things with you.

2008-03-02T22:33:00.005+01:00

1. I'm proud to announce Cait Sith will be joining the blog posse. Cait is an up-and-coming Genk-based DJ and graphic designer who once in a while will drop his views on minimal/ electro bangers. In order to be admitted to Raveslave he had to complete the quest we had assigned to him: he was to fight five dragons while preparing a five-course dinner in Playdoh. Cait pulled it off and, although he is still suffering from severe burns, his first post will be appearing this week.

2. Wandering on Myspace, I stumbled upon this gem: Dave P- Sunday nite in Glasgow. This is bloody trash, and yet again it isn’t. It’s trash in that way that it’s hard, filthy and that it rocks, but it isn’t in that way that it hasn’t got that typical overpopular nü-rave feeling to it. The track will come out in the near future (yeah, I don’t know when) with a Brodinski rmx, haven’t heard that one yet, but it sure does sound promising!

3. Sebastien Tellier’s lovely new album, called Sexuality, is now in stores. After the cooperation with Sebastian, Tellier has clearly gone into a new direction: this album is more dancefloor-oriented (it contains 4/4 beats instead of no beats) and sounds more poppy than his previous solo album, but it’s still got that sugary, melodic Tellier sound. I tip my hat to you, sir!

4. I've lost my favourite handkerchief.

Four: twenty - Remixes

2008-02-22T20:37:00.004+01:00

De minimal/tech-housemicrobe lijkt me dezer dagen meer dan ooit getroffen te hebben. Het is dan ook niet zo verwonderlijk dat volgende post er ook door besmet is geraakt. Een dokter echter is niet aan de orde aangezien de oorzaak mij nagenoeg niet vreemd is: blame it on the boogie, blame it on Andomat 3000! De Duitser Andreas Wiegand aka Dj Mahatma, die sinds 2006 een nauwe band met Jan Iwanitz heeft gesmeden, wist mij de afgelopen weken dermate te ontroeren: gaande van groovy techhouse tot de strakkere en donkergekleurde techno/minimal beats. Spontaan denk ik dan aan zijn recentelijke 3 tracker Cognitive Dissonance en de remixen voor Dadableep's Ghipwe en Two Amardillos' butterfly bee (!). Toch staat hetgeen wat volgt niet volledig in het het teken van het duo, maar maken zij veeleer deel uit van iets groter, namelijk het compilatiealbum Remixes van het Britse label Four: Twenty Recordings.

Het album omvat zowaar een waaier aan topproducers: Loco Dice, Martin Buttrich, Two Armadillos, Andomat 3000 en Solumun! En alsof dat nog niet volstond, deden ze bij Four: Twenty nog een beroep op niemand minder dan Samim, Konrad Black, Serafin - de wederhelft van 'hotspot of the moment' Mountain People - en Matthias Tanzmann. Allen staken de originele tracks voor deze speciale gelegenheid in een nieuw jasje.

Persoonlijk lijkt het mij dan ook dat de namen van de artiesten reeds boekdelen spreken en dat nadere toelichting haast overbodig is. Doch kan de ongelovige Thomas onder ons zichzelf van een ongezouten mening voorzien op Beatport.

Tenslotte wil ik ook nog graag van de gelegenheid gebruik maken om te verwijzen naar een andere oerdegelijk release op Four: Twenty. Het betreft Solomun's aka Play Deadman en Beauty & the beast. Maar, kijk vooral verder dan je neus lang is. De al ietwat gedateerde tracks Black rose - zopas van een remix voorzien door Trickski - en White Rose weerspiegelen pas echt zijn talent!

More or less?

2008-02-19T20:01:00.003+01:00

Following his debut album of last year, Boys Noize's first mix album for Bugged Out's "Suck my Deck" series is due to be released next month.

The tracklist is a reflection of Ridha's style, which is usually good news. However, I do have a feeling that he may be on a turning point in his career. His latest remixes deviate from his trademark style. You see, the remixing techniques he made us familiar with were (are?) quite insolent interpretations of the original. He just distorted the lot, added one huge let's-get-wild moment and, if there were any, twisted the vocals. That was until he remixed Feist's "My Moon My Man". This remix showed us his, ehh, feminine side. He did still twist the vocals partially but he stretched the whole thing and it was relatively soft compared to his usual style. The same thing goes for his remix of Apparat's "Arcadia", only this time, Ridha went even a bit further. He turned the original into a 13 minute epic that contained bits of techno, electro and nü-rave. And yes, I realise that he also remixed "Phantom 2" and that it was very heavy shit. But nonetheless, I believe that Ridha may possibly be tired of his ordinary sound and wants to explore new territories.

Maybe I'm completely wrong though, meaning that you've just wasted two minutes reading this piece of text. Fact remains that this tracklist is good news for people who still haven't had enough of Ridha's electronic warfare. No doubt he will have gotten it right once more...

Tracklist
01. Justice - DANCE (Boys Noize's Teaching How To Dance Accapella)
02. Surkin - Next Of Kin
03. Jackson & His Computer Band - Apeggio
04. Sebastian - Dolomi
05. Modeselektor - Suckerpin
06. Apparat - Cheap Thrills
07. Alter Ego - Beat The Bush
08. Das Glow - Sunburnt
09. DJ Blaqstar – Shake It To the Ground (Claude von Stroke Remix)
10. Shadow Dancer - Poke
11. Shadow Dancer - Cowbois
12. Siriusmo - Mein Neues Fahrrad (Boys Noize Rework)
13. Boys Noize - Lava Lava
14. High Powered Boys – Hoes Get Down
15. Feadz – New Humanoid
16. DIM - Is You (Brodinski Remix)
17. Dj Koze - Don’t Feed The Cat
18. Lil Louis/Marshall Jefferson - Video Crash
19. Laurie Anderson - Oh Superman
20. MMM - Donna
21. Smith n Hack - b2
22. Thomas Bangalter - Spinal Beats / Smith n Hack - b2
23. Boys Noize - DeDeDepella / Thomas Bangalter - Spinal Beats
24. Das Glow - Weiss Gaz
25. Reel 2 Reel - I Like To Move It (Instrumental)
26. Auto Repeat You Can’t Stop (Paul Johnson Remix)
27. housemeister - Inodertodance/ Surkin- Ghetto Obsession (Accapella)
28. Puzique - Thomas
29. Justice - Phantom (Boys Noize's Unreleased Turbine)
30. Boys Noize - Arcade Robot
31. Outlander - The HVamp
32. Ost & Kjex - Hasta Luego Manchego (Martin Horntveth Mix) (Sisi Edit)
33. The Faint - The Passives
34. Romanthony - Wanderer

The Boys Noize "Suck my Deck" mix will be released on the 17th of March, 2008.

Don't give me that civilized face

2008-02-16T19:18:00.008+01:00

In the following post I will abuse the intergalactic popularity of the blog to introduce to you the mixtapes of three chums of ours. I won’t abuse anything else.

First are Commonphase, twosome Yves and Niek, residents of the booming Leuven party concept Temposphere. You name it and these guys have spinned it: from nü-rave over to blasting techhouse. Their mix is a mirror of the tracks they have been playing most in the last few months, call it their essential mix, and download it here.You can also vote for this very mixtape in the DJ contest on Mixfactor.be

Tracklist
Justice - DVNO
Simian Mobile Disco – Animal house
Zombie Nation - Filter Jerks
Autokratz - It's on
Shitdisco -Dream of infinity (Passions rmx)
Eyerer & Namito - Quipa (Etienne de Crecy rmx)
Cazals - To Cut a Long Story Short (Streetlife Dj's Cut N' Run dub)

Next is Polazoid, kind of a newbie, but he has the force. He also contributes to the arty blog Phase02. His mixtape makes you go apeshit: nü-rave nukes and fidget fire all the way!
Download it here

Tracklist
Strip Steve - You & I
Justin martin - Ghetto train
Moston & Malente - Fucked up (Stupid Fresh remix)
Bart B More - Basement beats
Mark Ronson - Valerie (Count of Monte Crystal remix)
The Presets - My people (D.I.M. remix)
Don Rimini - Let me back up (The driver remix)
Hijack - Party people (Dj Fame remix)
Leonard de leonard - Screaming dance
Trevor loveys - Organ grinder
Elektrons - Get up (Herve remix)
Primary 1 - Hold me down (Yuksek remix)
Jesse voorn - Here it comes (Jaimy Fanatix remix)
Vnnr - Arigato (keatch remix)
Crookers - Love to edit
Hadkan lidbo - Peepo
Mono junk - Nolla3nolla
The Dirty Jos Soundsystem - Walk in the park (Somebodys going down tonight run in the park edit)
Lottergirls - Love it dope

Drumpoems Verse 1

2008-02-12T20:58:00.001+01:00

Reikhalzend keek ik uit naar het eerste compilatiealbum van het übercoole Zwitserse deep house label Drumpoet Community. Het mag dan nog wel spannend afwachten wezen tot de officiële releasedatum in Maart, de tracks te beluisteren op Drumpoet's Myspace weten alvast de ware poëet in mij te ontwaken.

De dieperliggende filosofie achter Drumpoet Community is eigenlijk vrij eenvoudig, maar tegelijkertijd uniek: allen trachten de buitenwereld kennis te geven van hun emotionele, aangrijpende en eerlijke sounds.

En of ze erin slagen? Dat dank je de koekoek! Het jong dichtersgeweld weet als geen ander hun innersoul bloot te leggen. Als je zeer aandachtig luistert, kan je zelfs de talrijke hyperbata, assonanties en alliteraties in hun sound destilleren. Straight from the heart!

Drumpoet Verse 1 is dan ook een onontbeerlijk exemplaar in ieders platencollecties. Het omvat een waaier aan opkomend talent, zoals onder meer Quarion, Sascha Dive, Kawabata en Soultourist. Maar het album vormt slechts een tipje van de ijsberg, ieder artiest heeft nog zoveel meer in z'n mars dan hier ten tonele gevoerd. Laat het dan bij deze de initiatie zijn tot het zich begeven in een sfeer van melancholie, liefde, diepzinnigheid en spiritualiteit.

Of om het met de woorden van de Franse romanticus Baudelaire te zeggen: "Dankzij en doorheen de poëzie, dankzij en doorheen de muziek vangt de ziel een glimp op van de pracht voorbij het graf."

Nouveautés

2008-02-10T15:35:00.000+01:00

Recently, the BBC 2 program "The Culture Show" paid a visit to Soulwax. It wasn't just an interview because the Dewaele bros also gave an insight in how they remix tracks. You can watch it here

Apparentely, the Ghent-based DJ duo Fredo & Thang have started a mix series dedicated to Jack Bauer, the dude from 24 who is imprisoned in real life (true story). A new mix should appear monthly and the aim is to keep on going until you can fill an entire day (24 hours, get it?) by just listening to mixes from Fredo & Thang. So far, 3 very nice mixes have been put on and I'm hoping that through this mix series, more people will find out about this wonderful DJ duo. You can download the mixes here

H&M has just launched a brand new collection called "Fashion Against Aids". It features big names such as Rihanna, Scissor Sisters, Timbaland and... Tiga. The latter contributed to the design of a hoody. Nothing wrong with that, the hoody's nice, it's very nü-rave-ish but... what's up with that fucking necklace? Some kind of subtle attempt to make Indians buy a customized H&M hoody? Next thing you know, he'll be hosting his next I Love Neon party in a tipi and Indians get a 25% discount. Now, that would be freaky shit.

We're all fools for this kind of love.

2008-02-04T15:47:00.000+01:00

A mate of mine always hates the start of new years. He's not really into the whole New Year's Eve let's party till a new days dawns-thing. I however did want 2007 to end because I was kind of excited for January 2008 to start because in that month, Belgian nü-disco duo Aeroplane's remix for Das Pop's Fool for Love was to be released.

I already liked the by Soulwax produced original. That one came with some remixes by SebastiAn and Yuksek & Brodinski which I liked even better than the original, although they had the same Frenchy feeling over them. But the true masterpiece came from Aeroplane.

The beauty of this remix lies in its simplicity: they got rid of the verses and the guitars of the original and only kept the chorus, which kicks in late in the remix. They added some handclaps, a disco-tinged bassline and an extremely catchy melody. No wonder these guys are already hailed by Lindstrom and Prins Thomas.

Aeroplane's career is really taking off now. After their 2 EPs on Eskimo Recordings, they have 2 remixes coming up this month (check their magnificent take on Low Motion Disco's Love Love Love) and a third EP on Eskimo, featuring Kathy Diamond and no less than Hercules and Love Affair on remixing duty.

It will get you funk

2008-02-02T22:12:00.000+01:00

It’s time to get in touch with the feminine me. And damn, what does it feel wonderful!
Oorzaak hiervan is de recentelijke release It got me funk van Mara Trax, alter ego van Vera Heindel en Maayan Nidam aka Miss Fitz, op het label Oslo. Het label – dat ondanks de naam ons doet vermoeden, in Duitsland gevestigd is – heeft op korte tijd hun meer dan volwaardig steentje bijgedragen aan de Duitse scène. Denk maar aan releases als Enerverende – met een beestige Damian Schwartz rmx – van labelbaas Federico Molinari en Paraiso 91.90.77 van Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts. En met Oslo 005 weten ze hun stekje alleen maar te verstevigen.

De EP vangt aan met Funk me, een onweerstaanbare groovy track met kleurvolle housy chords en een stevige basslijn. Tweede in het rijtje van vier is Me funk, de dubby versie van de eerste en is met z’n hypnotiserende toets ideaal voor de afterparty.
Voor The rhythm gaat het duo de ietwat donkere toer op. Wat mij betreft de minst funky, maar tevens beresterk en it fits like a glove in het totaalpakket.
De laatste track Let goose weet dan weer prompt een glimlach op mijn gelaat te toveren. Warm en soulvol; een weerschijn van Mara Trax’ sound. Can you feel it?!

2008-01-28T20:00:00.000+01:00

Hercules heeft de Olympus geruild voor een stek in New York, z’n toga voor een synth en to top it off heeft hij zichzelf de aardse naam Andy Butler aangemeten (toegegeven, een wat nederige naam voor een halfgod). Beresterk is hij nog steeds: de eerste EP van Hercules and love affair op DFA was meteen een schot in de roos. De tracks Classique 2 en Roar zijn frisse interpretaties van de 70s disco en de Chicago house scene (Classique 2 doet me denken aan Tyree Cooper) en ze werden grijsgedraaid door menig topjock. De tweede EP komt eraan - ook op DFA - en die is zodoende nóg beter: Blind is een parel. Het origineel is een rustig voortkabbelende track met opgewekte blazers, meer in lijn van de huidige disco-house producties, de zanglijn is schit-te-rend. De Hercules club mix op de B-kant laat de vocals en blazers meer naar de voorgrond treden, voegt wat distortion toe en heeft strakkere beats. Nog een leuk detail om af te sluiten: Hercules and love affair heeft zopas een remix afgewerkt voor onze landgenoten van Aeroplane, en geloof me, ook dat is een hoogvlieger!

Safe and Sound

2008-01-28T13:24:00.000+01:00

Exact 2 jaar na het releasen van Doppelleben komt discoridder Justus Köhncke op de proppen met zijn derde album Safe and Sound, dat verschijnt op het Cologne-based label Kompakt. Justus boort voor deze andermaal z’n haast ‘aangeboren’ wijsheid op het gebied van elektronische muziek aan en lijkt met dit album goed op weg om meer dan ooit aan het luidkeels getier te beantwoorden dat resoneert op menige dansvloeren.

Köhncke zelf lichtte al een tipje van de sluier op door in december laatstleden 2 tracks vervroegd te releasen en zo – al was het maar voorlopig – de honger van de discoliefhebber wist te stillen.
Enerzijds was er Parage – een track reeds terug te vinden in medeblogger/DJ Liss.’ platenkoffer – die naar mijn menig gewoonweg niets anders dan ‘damage’ kan aanrichten op de dansvloer.
Anderzijds schonk Justus ons Feuerland, gebaseerd op een uit 1974 verschenen track van Michael Rother, beter bekend bij het grote publiek omwille van zijn legendarische records met onder meer Kraftwerk, Harmonia en Neu!.

En op dit elan voortbordurend opent hij Safe and Sound met 3 pure disco bangers, respectievelijk Yacht, Molybdän en Love and Dancing (Update). Vervolgens brengt het dromerige Tilda ons in hogere sferen, te meer daar discoguru Prins Thomas(!) er zijn hemels licht liet over schijnen.
Bij (It’s gonna be) Allright gooit Köhncke het echter helemaal over een andere boeg en levert hij een song af vergelijkbaar met z’n oeuvre als Kinky Justus: poppy, emotronic beats gepaard gaande met catchy vocals.
Wat betreft de 3 laatste tracks (26 dollars – the pick of the bunch(!) –, Spukhafte Fernwirkung en Safe and Sound), lijkt het haast of deze in zijn brein ontsproten toen Köhncke zich als enige bevond op de dansvloer van een Duitse nachtclub en hij de ochtendzon als eerste groette. Diep, techy, maar steeds teergevoelig en soulvol. Kortom, een album dat je niet onberoerd zal laten!

Cait Sith mixtape

2008-01-23T20:07:00.000+01:00

We're back from minimal holiday parties and maximal family feasts, no need to say: you guys have been missed. Next to the usual presents (thanks mum), we also got a musical one from Cait Sith.

Cait Sith is a promising DJ who is a resident for the notorious Brussels-based Beatz & Bleepz radioshow. In the upcoming months, he will be sharing the decks with Brodinski & Yuksek, D.I.M, The Hacker and Mason. It's sure to say we haven't seen the last of this talented kid!

You can download Cait Sith's Demo 08 here

Tracklist
Sucker Pin – Modeselektor
Bad Runner (Jokers of the Scene Remix) – Brodinski
Fistogram (DIM Remix) – KIM
Asylum Sneaker (Padded Cell Remix) – Magik Johnson
Filter Jerks – Zombie Nation
Need Cash – Housemeister
Midnight Swim (Riton Rerub) – Para One
Shooting Tigers (Play Paul Remix) – Markus Lange & Daniel Dexter
Alcoolic – Popof
Alloy Mental (Boys Noize Remix) – Alloy Mental
Fool for Love (Yuksek Remix) – Das Pop
Ghetto Train (Justin Martin Mix) – Justin Martin
We Rock da House – Laidback Luke
Dance Division (Blende Remix) - Detect
Shake a Fist (Acapella) – Hot Chip
As Above so Below (Justice Remix) – Klaxons
Pung – Hugg & Pepp
The Things That Dreams Are Made of (Tiga Remix) – Human League
The Origin – The Subs
The Kitten – Dusty Kid
Oh! – Boys Noize
Mammoth (Erol Alkan Rework) - Interpol

A late Christmas present

2008-01-11T21:33:00.000+01:00

Yes, I know we said we weren't going to make posts until February but this exceptional news requires exceptional measures. Bear with me here...

Last September, there were some rumours about a FabricLive mix which was going to be made by Justice. Those rumours appeared to be true, an album cover was even created (see above). But weirdly enough, this mix never saw the light of day and it was replaced by a compilation mixed by Caspa & Rusko, which kind of sucked if you ask me. Recently, the true story behind Justice's Fabriclive mix was revealed by themselves in an interview with a Norwegian newspaper.

Xavier de Rosnay: "We didn't want to do just another boring mix, so we put together a selection of tunes we absolutely love, mainly weird disco tracks and French novelty acts. But Fabric turned it down. They weren't ready for something like this. Maybe we'll put the mix out ourselves. People should really hear it, they'd be surprised."

Yeah, you haven't suddenly become an illiterate retard: something that was made by Justice, the most proverbial electro artists at the moment, was rejected. Oh dear, that's kind of like when a supermodel asks you if you're up for a quicky in the bathroom of some trendy club you're at and you turn her down.

Luckily, Justice released the mix themselves and they named it "Xmas mix". And what a Christmas present this is. This may very well be one of the best mixes I have heard in a very long time and this is coming from someone who is quite sceptical at most things made by Justice. You'd expect them to pull out the ordinary nü-rave and trash electro tracks but they've made something completelely different which made me review my opinion on them.

Now as you party people know this is not an MP3 blog but when things are as good as this you just have to share the wealth, right? you can download the rejected, albeit great Fabriclive mix by Justice here

Tracklist
01 Sparks: "Tryouts for the Human Race"
02 Rondo Veneziano: "La Serenissima"
03 Goblin: "Tenebrae"
04 Daft Punk: "Ouverture"
05 Surkin: "Next of Kin"
06 Symbolone: "Love Juice"
07 Korgis: "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes"
08 Midnight Juggernauts: "Ending of an Era"
09 The Paradise: "In Love With You [ft. Romauld]"
10 Justice: "TTHHEE PPAARRTTYY (Acapella)"
11 Chic: "Everybody Dance"
12 Frankie Valli: "Who Loves You"
13 Das Pop: "Underground"
14 Julien Clerc: "Quand Je Joue"
15 Daniel Balavoine: "Vivre Ou Survivre"
16 Richard Sanderson: "Reality"
17 Zoot Woman: "Grey Day"
18 Fucking Champs: "Thor Is Like Immortal"
19 The Rave: "Mother"
20 Fancy: "You Never Know"
21 Frank Stallone: "Far From Over"
22 Sheila: "Misery"
23 Todd Rundgren: "International Feel"

Special thanks to Tom for putting the mix up.

Noize for boys: 2007's top producers.

2007-12-20T19:42:00.000+01:00

Normally, we're on our break but we figured we couldn't just stop posting things without doing something special. And since it's the time of the year, we decided to make a top ten of the finest producers of 2007. To earn a spot in our top ten, one would have to produce on a consistent level and not limit oneself to a fantastic compilation (Booka Shade, Ewan Pearson) , to mind-blowing remixes (Carl Craig) or just a fantastic album (Pantha du Prince). What we were looking for were producers who managed to combine these elements. After doing some thinking, we came up with a blend of promising new talents and well-established names in what is to be our top ten...

10. Crookers
A breakthrough year for the talented Italians who created a furor with a series of excellent remixes and some very nice productions of their own.

9. Burial
An artist that most will know because of his wonderful album "Untrue", which is acclaimed by many as one of finest as 2007, and I have to join the party as well because words fail to describe the exceptional quality of "Untrue". Just listen to it is my advice. Moreover, Burial has made some tremendous remixes such as the one for Jamie Woon's "Wayfaring Stranger" and one for Bloc Party.

8. Brodinski
In his debut year, the young Frenchman made a series of impressive remixes (especially the one for D.I.M's "Is You", which helped to ease the pain for the dissapointing original) and an amazing track of his own: "Bad Runner". Keep an eye on this kid!

7. Hot Chip
Hot Chip keeps amazing us by constantly doing new things. They now made a compilation for the reputed DJ Kicks series which was quite fabulous indeed. It was surprisngly coherent and the exclusive track they recorded for this compilation ("Piano") is the shit because I couldn't get it out of my head for like 2 weeks. Not to mention the terrific remixes they made for the likes of Matthew Dear ("Don and Sherri") and Chk Chk Chk (Must be the Moon).

6. Efdemin
This bloke came up with an amazing album early this year and then followed through by creating top quality remixes such as Gestern's "Till Von Sein", Sascha Funke's "The Acrobat" and Andreas Heiszenberger's "Perfect Moment". And next to his album, he even produced two more EPs: "Lohn & Brot" and "Métisse 02". I can just keep listening to his releases. Every time I seem to detect something new, or maybe that's just my imagination. There's just something magical about his productions. Just listen to "Acid Bells" (those drums!) and you'll see what I mean...

5. Midnight Juggernauts
One of the most impressive breakthroughs of the year can be accorded to Midnight Juggernauts. Last summer, their massive album "Dystopia" was released and more than the Klaxons' "Myths of the Near Future", this album made me like the whole nü-rave concept. They also made some nice remixes, especially their version of Kim's "Wet N Wild", which was wild indeed.

4. Boys Noize
After strong productions "Don't Believe The Hype" and "Feel Good (TV = Off)", it was Boys Noize who washed away my dissapoint of earlier maximalist albums of Justice (they aren't to be compared with Daft Punk at all) and Digitalism with his massive debut album "Oi Oi Oi". He's also the man who's responsible for the track I listened most to this summer, namely his remix of Feist's "My Moon My Man". And his remix of Justice's Phantom Pt II just makes the original sound like a mellow piece of trash compared to the raw trash beats Ridha had in store for us. I could keep going on about Alex Ridha but I'll just conclude by saying that he is the true master of maximal nowadays.

3. Klaxons
These guys are the undisputed flag-bearers of the new nü-rave sound and I must admit that they've kind of earned it. Their album "Myths of the Near Future" sounds innovative and was very much liked by, well, just about everyone. But what I liked most was the Bugged Out compilation they made because they actually showed that they don't have to continuously elaborate on nü-rave (meaning: Guns N Bombs or Punks Jump Up tracks would've been obvious on this mix). This Bugged Out mix of theirs is truly impressive because it travels through different genres (Wu-Tang clan!, Roy Orbison!) and features many not so well known artists (Overnoise, Aleister Crowley,Da BoogieBoys and basically a shitload of others I'd never heard of). And in case you doubted their mixing talents, it is very well executed.

2. Radio Slave
What I like about Matthew Edwards is his versatility. Whether he's making electro house or dropping dance floor bangers or creating minimal techno, he always gets it right. His "Screaming Hands" is arguably my favourite track of 2007 and the recently released "Bell Clap Dance" has already been placed in my Favourite-tracks-of-the- moment-playlist on the iPod. His Misch Masch compilation was magnificent and his recent compilation of Rekids released gave me goosebumps. I hope he keeps up the speed at which he makes remixes, productions of his own and compilations because I couldn't bear long without some new things by Radio Slave.

1. Matthew Dear
Under his Audion alias he keeps on making remixes that stun everything they touch. Even over a year after its release, "Mouth to Mouth" still feels like getting hit by a sledgehammer. And I don't mind taking the hit time after time. He pulled off the same trick with his 2007 remixes for Blackstrobe's "I"m a Man", Dubfire's "I Feel Speed" and the Chemical Brothers' "Do it Again". This year was also the year in which Matthew Dear made a synth-pop album that shows his songwriter talent: "Don and Sherri" and "Give me More" are stunning. Matthew Dear is an incredibly talented artist who manages to do quite a lot of things at the same time and make them sound good ,which makes that he holds the rightful claim of best producer of 2007.

An honorable mention to those who didn't make it into our top ten: Redshape, Franz and Shape, Dixon, Henrik Schwarz, Jamie Jones, My My, Pantha Du Prince, Sebo K, Gui Boratto, Stephan Bodzin, Aril Brikha, Soulwax and Ricardo Villalobos. A word of explanation on the latter: Villalobos has produced "Fabric 36", which is basically an album since it contains only material of himself, has created "Sei es Drum" and outstanding remixes (Shackleton's "Blood on My Hands"). The reason why he isn't in this top ten is because you'd expect things like that from Villalobos. It's because of the hype that is created around him, expectations are just so high that people almost think it normal that he makes truly exquisite productions such as "Fabric 36". Villalobos should basically always be in some top 10 as producer of the year, or for album of the year or even remix of the year. We like to think that other producers, like Brodinski and the Crookers, need more attention than Villalobos and that is the sole reason why he was excluded from our top ten.

Well, that was it. No more posts from us this year, we will return as of February. Enjoy the crazy parties (Soulwaxmas!) that are coming up these days and do try to keep yourself in one piece.

2007-12-14T19:21:00.000+01:00

In a perfect world, scientists would place a chip in my head so that I would instantly receive Erol Alkan's favourite track of the moment without going through the trouble of downloading, buying or going to places where funky shit gets spinned to hear these amazing new tunes. Unfortunately, that isn't the case yet so we still have to plough our way through heaps of shit before actually encountering a real gem. Parties are these to easy our life a little though and luckily there's plenty of those this weekend.

Tomorrow, it's nü-rave time at Petrol in Antwerp because Punks Jump Up are coming over and you better hope they spin that "Disco Wreck" remix they did for Don Cash because it'll set the place on fire. Monica Electronica will be around as well.

Over at Mirano in Brussels, the Dirty Dancing concept shows it is still one of the dominant forces in clubbing because Carl Craig is coming to burn down the house. If you haven't yet seen this guy spin, you best head the fuck over there...

We have though, which is why we are dragging our ass to a paradise which we will refer to as the übertrendy Make-Up Club in Ghent. Innervisions chief Dixon (the deepest of respect for his Body Language compilation) is coming to Belgium again and he'll make your body move to those funky deep housey tunes of his. Residents Fredo & Thang (isn't that the coolest name you've ever heard?) and Stephen are joining in as well. Did we already mention that this is a free party?

It's one of those weekends again when you just can't make a bad choice. You can only regret that you can't see all of them because these are absolute killer line-ups.

we'd like to know kung fu as well

2007-12-09T17:12:00.000+01:00

Before Nü-ravers (some say new-rave but please indulge my fondness of the umlaut) Shitdisco hit it big, they hosted free parties in their drummer's flat in Glasgow. These so-called "61" parties would last an entire weekend. In 2005, their first single "Disco Blood/ I know Kung Fu" was released on Fierce Panda and the world outside of Glasgow was able to enjoy Shitdisco's intense sound. Their first album, Kingdom of Fear, was completely in the line of their debut single and a few weeks back, the 12" of "I Know Kung Fu" was released.

On the A-side, the original can be found along with an absolutely destructive remix by Belgian electrorockers Goose. This remix kind of reminds me of "Ravelight", the remix Soulwax made for Robbie Williams's "Lovelight".It also has this kind of slow (well, compared to what's coming...) building up followed by quite a lengthy run-up to a massive explosion. Also note the bleepy noises during the building up which resemble the ones in "Ravelight" very much. And by no means is this a bad thing, au contraire, this remix would cause mayhem on a dancefloor. On the B-side, there's a remix of "OK" by Radioclit and a remix of "Dream of Infinity" by Passions.

Plutôt au dessus qu'en dessous

2007-12-04T20:40:00.000+01:00

Het Duitse houselabel Dessous Recordings legt zijn ziel bloot op de nagelnieuwe dubbelaar Dessous' Best Kept Secrets. Het album is een greep uit het seizoen aan 12" en omvat daarenboven een resem exclusieve tracks, hun 'best kept secrets' die paradoxaal genoeg tot nu toe achter slot en grendel werden gehouden.

Bij Dessous zelf omschrijven ze hun sound graag als 'modern House music' en gepaard gaande met hun unieke 'touch' weten ze als geen ander muziek te creëren met maar een doel voor ogen: music that moves your body as well as your soul.

De klinkende namen op het album - uiteraard gewikt en gewogen door labelbaas Steve Bug - doen ons alvast niets anders geloven. Niemand minder dan Charles Webster, Efdemin, Tanzmann, Mr V., Will Saul, Morgan Geist, Anja Schneider en vanzelfsprekend Steve Bug himself hebben hun creativiteit kunnen botvieren op de originele tracks van onder meer Phonique en Alison Marks.

Maar waar het uiteindelijk allemaal om draait - en naar waar de titel Best Kept Secrets werkelijk verwijst - is de tweede CD. Vincenzo Ragone, de - naar eigen zeggen - 'Don of Deephouse, verwerkt naast zijn eigen tracks ook die van ander aanstormend geweld, zoals Simon Flower, Ryo Murakami, Steve Ferrand & Pete Sung tot een warm en soulvol geheel.

Dessous' Best Kept Secrets, bestemd voor zowel de dansvloer als voor 'en dessous de la couverture'.

Contemporary 0.1 & Classics by Luciano

2007-11-27T22:25:00.000+01:00

Cadenza Records en Luciano – 2 namen haast synoniem met de hedendaagse minimal/tech-house – komen naar buiten met hun eerste compilatiealbum Cadenza Contemporary 0.1 & Classics. Een dubbelaar die niet alleen de pure essentie van het label weerspiegelt, maar tevens een subtiele knipoog is naar wat in het verschiet ligt en zo alvast mede de toekomst omarmt.

De eerste CD – gemixt door Luciano zelve – omvat Cadenza’s afgelopen releases met daarenboven Luciano’s track Tonerres van het album No Model No Tool dat uitkwam op hun sublabel Cadenza Split Composition.
De ‘minimalguru’ steekt van wal met de kleurvolle housy tracks van respectievelijk Argenis Brito en Digitaline, gevolgd Petre Inspirescu’s psychedelische Racakadoom. De donkere winterslaap wordt dan plots verstoord door het funky trompetgeschal van L delay dat op zijn beurt weer plaats maakt voor Rhadoo’s Woa Ovuls. Stek 7 op het album is opnieuw voor Inspirescu met z’n bleepy Galantar dat op de voet gevolgd wordt door de ‘jungletrack’ Madre Tierra van Alejandro Vivanco. Eindigen doet Luciano in stijl met het diepe, ‘it makes you wanna move’ Fango van Pikayou en zijn eigen experimentele 12” Tonerres.

En de hoogtepunten blijven zich maar opstapelen op de tweede CD. Wat volgt is een overzicht van het repertoire aan wat men bestempelt als ‘classics’; vereeuwigd in de memoires van menig liefhebber van Cadenza’s sound. Woorden schieten tekort om de tracks te typeren, dus zal ik wijselijk de muziek voor zich laten spreken en jullie zelf op ontdekkingsreis sturen doorheen het ‘minimalwoud’.

Het prille begin en het denderende heden, – the beauty and the beast – vastgelegd op een CD.
Contemporary 0.1 & Classics is een mijlpijl voor het label en een must have binnen ieders platencollectie.

faut le faire...

2007-11-26T20:02:00.000+01:00

After escaping its maker's clutches in October, it had wandered around the globe. Some say they saw it at Cheops' piramid, probably because it looks like Daft Punk's infamous piramid, whereas others believe they saw it pissing down Will.I.Am's neck. I myself got an angry call cause it was standing in Iraq to see the hanging gardens of Babylon ( history isn't its strong side )but ended up almost getting shot by Americans who took it for a suicide bomber. After that unfortunate event, it decided that its creator wasn't such a bad guy after all and took the first plane home.

Some call it a masterpiece, others (the Iraqis I presume) say it's a poisoned gift from the heathens but we like to refer to it simply as Liss's October mix which was made with pleasure to please people like you and me.

Tracklist:
Kraftwerk – Aerodynamik (Hot Chip rmx)
Cobra Dukes – Leave the light on (Fredo & Thang rmx)
Dirty 30 – Roman steppe
In Flagranti – Nonplusultra (Sex Schon rmx)
Michel de Hey – Compound (Shinedoe rmx)
Alter Ego - Why not (Joakim rmx)
Smith ‘n Hack - Falling stars

You can download it world exclusively here

2007-11-24T20:14:00.000+01:00

"Pilooski", I said to the garden-gnome,"do you know Pilooski?"
And he just went like: "..."

The man is playing Ghent's Make-up club tonight (Chris forgot to mention this below), so here's a little intro: Pilooski is from Paris, France and he speaks French. He makes nonchalant, slow, disco-ish, jazz-infected music and particularly likes sprucing up old classics. I've made a top three of his oeuvre for you:

Pilooski - Love is wet
Frank Valli - Beggin' (Pilooski re-edit)
John Miles - Stranger in the city (Pilooski re-edit)

When my pals first heard these tracks, they cummed all over the place, love is wet indeed. And for the record, Pilooski's next record, the Discodeine Ep in colab with Pentile, will be out soon on D-I-R-T-Y records.

Glowstyx with glowsticks

2007-11-23T21:26:00.000+01:00

Tons of great parties this weekend: Groovecity, Freeform Five and Pitchtuner at Petrol, Kiki at Café d'Anvers and a free party at Silo with Trish Van Eynde and Mugwump.Nice, innit? We are opting for a different one though...

This Saturday, in an attempt to bring back real rave, a new party concept named Rave Our Souls takes place in the illustrious Muziekodroom in Hasselt. Headlining in the "Old Skool Room" is Glowstyx. Their debut album was released last October on the US-based Cock Rock Disco label and definitely needs checking out if you're into rave. The headliner seems to fit the description of this party perfectly.So, what about the rest of the line-up?

Well, Body to Body resident DJ Dan is spinning too and given his predilection of raw electro, he should be a ball. Furthermore, Goldfox, practically a celeb at parties in this region, will be at the controls next to two promising youngsters from my hometown: Disko Drunkardz. Trust me, their Beatz & Bleepz set is something you want to listen to, which is why you can download it here.

Oh, and if you're into DnB: there's also a DnB room with Remarc, Bong-Ra, Riot, Stykz and MC Doc.

AND they've got gadgets. What more can one ask for?

Italo is alive!

2007-11-20T14:29:00.000+01:00

Een aantal weken geleden viel mijn oog op het hippe New Yorkse label Italians do it better, kind van Mike Simonetti, dat - ondanks het nog niet zo langdurige bestaan - z'n naam letterlijk aan het waar maken is binnen de italo scene. Met full support van Tim Sweeney van DFA Records en host van het gerenommeerde muziekprogramma Beats in Space releasten ze dan ook onlangs hun eerste compilatiealbum After Dark waarmee ze een meer dan waardig visitekaartje hebben afgeleverd. Enkele veelbelovende namen uit Simonetti's stal: Mirage, Farah, Glass Candy en Chromatics (ook terug te vinden op de Body Language compilatie van Dixon) bekend van het geprezen In the city.

Maar niet alleen hun After Dark deed bij menig muziekliefhebber de disco fever van weleer herleven, ook de recentelijke releases van Professor Genius sprongen uit de band. Naast La Grotta op Italians do it better, kwam deze ook nog met een andere voortreffelijke 12" op de proppen, meer bepaald Pegaso op Citizen Kane's Disques Sinthomme . Beide tracks worden getypeerd door de klassieke Italo baslijnen, opzwepende synths en subtiele drums. Let's swing!

And you say I'm not underground?

2007-11-18T14:58:00.000+01:00

Il y a deux gars un peu bizarres qui viennent de Paris. Non, je ne suis pas en train d'écrire quelque chose sur Justice, il s'agit en fait du Benjamin Boguet et Julien Briffaz. Ils sont respectivement dans les groupes Cosmo Vitelli (ceci n'est pas vraiment un groupe car il consiste seulement en Benjamin)et [T]ékël. Mais de temps en temps, depuis 2005, ils se rencontrent pour collaborer ensemble à un projet qui s'appele Bot'Ox. Ils ont déjà lancé quatre disques sur lesquelles on trouve chaque fois deux chansons. Les disques de Bot'Ox sont indéfinissable, ça c'est un understatement! Leur plus récente parution est sur le label parisien "I'm a Cliché" et les chansons sont titrés "Babylon by Car" et "Tragedy Symphony".

Apparemment, James Murphy (n'oublie pas d'écouter et d'ACHETER son disque "45:33") et Tim Goldsworthy du célèbre label américain "DFA" aiment les chansons assez pour les lancer sur leur sublabel (qui vient d'être fondé) "Death from Abroad". Le disque sera mis en circulation dès le 11 décembre.

History lesson.

2007-11-15T19:48:00.000+01:00

Last October, Rapster Records released the latest edition of its illustrious "Kings of..." series. Following in the footsteps of Laurent Garnier and Carl Craig who mixed the previous edition named "The Kings of Techno", Playgroup (aka Trevor Jackson) and Alter Ego have the opportunity to present their views on respectively electro from the good ol' times and contemporary electro.

Rather than making a mix containing well-known classics, Playgroup has carefully selected obscure tracks that were ahead of their time, such as opener "This is Me" by Chris & Cosey (I know, who?).With its banging synth sound and oppressed vocals, they sound kind of like a pre-21st century version of Fischerspooner. What makes Playgroup such a unique artist is that he finds the perfect balance between bodyrockers, such as "Report to the Dancefloor" (what's in a name?) by Energize, and more relaxing tunes, all poured into a solid entity.

Albeit the fact that Alter Ego's CD is entitled "the Present", Roman Flügel and Jörn Elling Wuttke refused to insert current electro hits by the likes of Justice, Boys Noize and other Tigas into their mix. Instead, they opted to offer us a reduced history of techno, presenting tracks by amongst others Daniel Bell, Robert Hood, Acid Jesus (aka Dopplereffekt and Alter Ego themselves) and the master himself, Richie Hawtin under his Plastikman pseudonym.

This mix offers a delightful trip into long forgotten gems and doesn't only want to make you party, it also makes you think about how indebted current artists are to the pioneers of the genre. "The Kings of Electro" has broadened my view on the genre I love so dearly and when I come to think of it, not a great deal of compilations manage to pull that off and get away with it like Playgroup and Alter Ego do.

Fizzmann/ Barren space

2007-11-13T16:01:00.000+01:00

Next to the American Diabetes Association and the American Dental Association (that’s quite confusing, isn’t it?), Ada also is one of my favourite producers slash DJs. She first came to the fore in 2004 AD, when her track Blindhouse was featured on Areal’s Bis Neuhnzehn comp and from that day on she’s been one of the label’s key artists next to Metope and Basteroid. In the meantime Cologne-based Ada has amongst others delivered the grating Our love never dies (which was lauded on Grandmaster Alkan’s Bugged Out mix cd), her dashing debut album Blondie and a few EPs on her new label Cereal killers. What makes Ada’s sound so compelling is the mélange of beauty and beast. On the one hand she crafts moving melodies and on the other hand she makes use of raw beats and noisy effects. Ada’s new release is a continuation of this recipe, but with even better ingredients. If you ask me, the Fizmann EP on Areal is the best Ada two-tracker yet.

Stateless

2007-11-07T14:23:00.000+01:00

Niet alleen dansvloermateriaal geldt als uithangbord bij !K7 Records, ook de alternatieve weg blijft er niet onbewandeld. Het Berlijnse label lijkt zich alsmaar meer toe te spitsen op een diversiteit aan stijlen. “To release the brightest, most interesting sounds from the digital leftfield", klinkt het er zowaar in koor. Getuige hiervan is de recentelijke release van het album Stateless, van de gelijknamige Leedse groep.

Na het beluisteren van hun debuutalbum lijkt het mij zeer waarschijnlijk dat deze band, bestaande uit Chris James, Justin Percival, David Levin, Kidkanevil en Rod, nog heel wat brokken zal maken. Menig muziekliefhebber én artiest zijn er alvast heilig van overtuigd.
"The Best album of the year full stop", “Defines a new level of possibility in brilliant, durable and genuinely popular music”, zo luiden enkele van de vele complimenten die de band toegeworpen worden door muziekmagazines.

Volumineuze strijkers, pianoflarden, diepe baslijnen, subtiele turntable beats en daarenboven de zeemzoete stem van Chris James lijken bij te dragen tot het succes van dit multi-etnische vijftal. De track bloodstream – een narcotisch lied die de kracht van liefde bezingt: “I think I might have inhaled you…” – wist mij alvast het meest te bekoren. Wat mij betreft lijkt een nieuwe nuance binnen de muziekwereld in de maak.

Please believe the hype.

2007-11-06T20:56:00.000+01:00

"oi": "used to call someone or attract their attention in a way that is not very polite"
"oi oi oi": "a Boys Noize maximal version of the original exclamation"

Boys Noize released his debut album over a month ago. Unless you've been living under a rock, you'd already know this. Why would I even bother writing something about it then? Well, first of all, it's because I don't mind being slightly behind on everyone else. Unlike most bloggers, I don't always feel the need to write something about the latest or hottest release, the so-called "Ultimate Release of the moment". I guess I sometimes need some time to let things sink in first before I really feel the need to get them out of my system. And that is why only now I feel comfortable to write something on Boys Noize's debut album Oi Oi Oi.

As some of you may think, this isn't really Alex Ridha's first album. He's made another one under the name Kid Alex, named Restless, and this album was destroyed by the critics. I am thrilled to say that "Oi Oi Oi" is of a different level. On this album, Ridha pulls out all the stops. The album begins with "& Down" which immediately sets the tone. From there on, Ridha shows no willingness whatsoever to slow down the pace of the album and keeps firing one dancefloor filler after another at you, going from "Arcade Rock" (Robot Rock, anyone?), over "Shine Shine" (which reminds me a lot of that typical Digitalism sound with Justice vocals incorporated) to end with a track that couldn't have summarized this album better: his remix of "Spacer Frau".

This is the kind of massive album that Justice was supposed to release for Ed Banger Records, but they kinda mistook themselves and Digitalism's "Idealism" wasn't very consistent either. Ridha however, is the conductor of a very consistent as well as coherent album that keeps on giving you body blows and ends with an uppercut, just to make sure you got the message. And oh yes, I got the message loud and clear. If I were to be on a quest for "the Ultimate Release of the moment", I needn't search further. I've found what I was looking for right here.

The night is ours. Partly anyways.

2007-11-02T20:31:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow, another Stereo edition of Ed&Kim and Murdock's celebrated concept Breakdown is taking place at Muziekodroom, Hasselt. Next to Ed&Kim themselves (duh), Fred Nasen and Guy J will also be there for your amusement. Some of you may recall Nasen from his residency at the "At The Villa" parties. Nowadays he's a resident at the famous Kozzmozz parties in Ghent and has his own label, Dogtown, which has already released tracks of the likes of Guy Gerber and Guy J. Speaking of Guy J, this young Israeli talent will also be present at this edition. 2007 has been his year so far: last July, his massive track "Agent Blue" was released on Azuli Records and soon, Bedrock, John Digweed's label and Turbo, you-know-who's label, are releasing tracks of his.

As usual, we shall be present ourselves. Not only as members of the crowd but Raveslave homeboy Liss will be at the controls from 10 to 12 pm, along with Klitza, another promising talent from our hometown. Some of you will experience the thrill of watching them spin. And if you're really lucky, you might catch a peak of his asscrack as Liss bends over to fetch a new vinyl!

A night not to be missed, that much is clear. And for the record, there's also a DnB room but since I don't know fuck about DnB, I'll wisely shut my yap on that matter.

Franz & Shape

2007-10-30T20:00:00.000+01:00

About three years ago, Italo body music duo (so they say themselves) Franz & Shape amazed me, and a couple of million others I hope, by releasing a track that went by the name of "Countach". I was listening to it the other day and it still sounds absolutely massive. No wonder Franz & Shape were hailed by no less than Tiga and 2 Many DJs.

Earlier this year, their first album "Acceleration" was released on Headman's label Relish and I was simply stunned from the first till the very fucking last second. It's still my favourite album of 2007 and producers are running out of months to bring me round.

My favourite Italians Francesco Spazzoli and Chris Shape haven't been slacking and their remix of Tronik Youth's "We Are..." was released on Back Yard Recordings just now. Later this month, Turbo is unleashing their brand new track "Deflection", which sounds wonderful if you ask me. And the good news keeps piling up because in December, another single called "Eyes Like Knives" will be released on Relish.

I'm liking these guys more and more with each release and if me rambling on about them won't convince you of how great these guys really are, perhaps the tracks on their MySpace will.

For all you Treehuggers

2007-10-30T17:16:00.000+01:00

(cover of Simple Sounds EP 1)

I couldn’t sleep, which was kinda logical, since it was 4 o’clock in the afternoon. I decided to write something.

British Will Saul is not that known with the public, but very respected in the bizz (I assume, I respect him an awful lot and I am not even in the bizz). He delivers tracks ideal to accompany an hour of watching out of the window, of peering into the fall-ish landscape, of looking at the birds and the trees. He also is the man behind Simple records; home to melodic minimal and house. On November 5th the first Simple records cd, Simple Sounds, will be in shops and to celebrate, Simple is releasing three EP’s, from which the first is out now. Simple Sounds EP 1 contains an exclusive new Will Saul track, called 3000 AD, and a Wahoo (= Dixon) remix of Mbira, probably the best known Saul track. Brilliant EP!

Besides, Will Saul came down to play at Fuse last Friday (on Mugwump’s Flesh concept), I am sorry, but you missed that.

http://www.myspace.com/willsaul

Henrik Schwarz - Live

2007-10-30T14:36:00.002+01:00

De Duitser Henrik Schwarz, bekend van het alom geprezen – al was het maar door mezelf – Where you at samen met Âme en Dixon, heeft furore gemaakt het afgelopen jaar. Hij heeft een oerdegelijk vervolg gebreid aan de Dj-Kicks compilaties, en heeft ook niet stilgezeten als het aankomt op remixen, producen en het beste van zichzelf geven in zijn passievolle sets. Het levende bewijs hiervan is zijn meesterwerk op !K7 records dat recentelijk het levenslicht zag onder de naam Live. Prepare for a harmonious journey into sound…

De cd is een smeltkroes van verschillende live opnames van over de hele wereld. Schwarz’ bedoeling in een notendop: “In some way I have the feeling that if you record something live in Tokyo, you can capture some of that energy on a disc. So I tried to bring some of the energy of Tokyo, but also the energy of Berlin, Chicago, Manchester, Darmstadt, Madrid, Istanbul, Porto - and London, of course. I don’t know how it works but somehow it is all melted together.”

And how he nailed it! Henrik verwoordt zijn diepgewortelde liefde voor jazz en soul met funky deephouse. Vandaar ook zijn ode aan legendarische figuren als Sun Ra, James Brown en Boy George. Maar ook jonger talent komt aan bod, denk maar aan Mari Boine met haar oorstrelende Voui Voui Me en het daverende Earth Beats van Kuniyuki, weliswaar beide bewerkt door zijn ‘Midas Touch’. Om dan nog maar te zwijgen over Schwarz’ eigen producties, gaande van de Afrofunk van Kalimba Dance over de acidbeats van Jimis tot het jazzy Leave My Head Alone Brain en het pianistische Imagination Limitation.

Reden genoeg dus om deze man te bejubelen en reikhalzend uit te kijken naar zijn debuterende artiestenalbum in 2008!

http://www.henrikschwarz.com/

http://www.myspace.com/henrikschwarz

http://www.sunday-music.com/ (Mixtapes)

Rose Rouge

2007-10-25T18:14:00.000+02:00

(St. Germain, according to Google)

I am thrilled to bits: St. Germain – Rose Rouge (remember the vocal: “I want you to get together”?) is going to be re-released. The original appeared in 2000 on St. Germain’s album “Tourist”, the new release comes with a Luciano (!), Rhadoo and Tak su remix, and a whole lot of desire to get together. Rumour has it will be released on Arpiar, the label of Raresh and his Romanian posse. Also check Arpiar001 and Arpiar002, for the minimal side of minimal music.

Simian Commercialised Disco

2007-10-23T21:57:00.001+02:00

Apparentely, Simian Mobile Disco released a new video for their track Hustler because "if Digitalism can get on the telly with Pogo, so can we with Hustler. Anything to attract the crowd's attention, ey? Anyway, this new video looks awful. The original was a nice video and I'm not sure what the heck was so wrong with it but obviously SMD knows best.

This transformation reminds me of the vids they made for Satisfaction by Benny Benassi. The original video was very, VERY basic, then they made a new one involving a lot of scarcily dressed young ladies and a whole lotta... tools.

Anyway, you be the judge yourself...

New one

Original

Supersaviors

2007-10-20T21:41:00.000+02:00

Beeld je even in: Je gaat voor de tigste keer op reis naar je favoriete vakantiebestemming en bevindt je op de autosnelweg die je altijd pakt als je er heen gaat. Maar na enkele kilometers besef je dat je eigenlijk niet naar die bestemming wil want je hebt daar alles wel zo'n beetje gezien. Aangezien je toch op reis wil gaan, beslis je om de eerste de beste afslag te nemen en gewoon te zien waar je uitkomt. Ofwel wordt dit een unieke ervaring die je voorbije reizen overtreft, ofwel kom je terecht in een achterlijk gat waar je verkracht wordt door zigeuners die op doorreis zijn. Michael Mayer en Axel ‘Superpitcher’ Schaufler besloten om een stap in het onbekende te zetten en het resultaat is verbazingwekkend.

De intro "Hey" zet de toon met zijn sinistere vocals. "The Art of Letting Go", waarin handgeklap en Schaufler's vocals de hoofdrollen spelen , borduurt verder op de intro terwijl "Saturdays" meer weg heeft van Mayers typische sound. Als Indianen muziek hadden voor bij hun kampvuur terwijl ze aan hun vredespijp lurkten, zou "Lonesome King" dé perfecte track voor hun zijn.

De rest van het album is meer gericht op de dancefloor, wat niet wil zeggen dat het allemaal minimalistische dancefloorbangers zijn. "Please Sunrise"bijvoorbeeld, is een discotrack die niet zou mis staan in het repertoire van Lindstrom & Prins Thomas. "Planet of the Sick" doet denken aan de typische Detroit-sound, maar dan met vocals die thuishoren in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’. Teleurstellende track dus. Gelukkig maakt "Two of Us", de dancefloor killer waar iedereen op te wachten zat, deze misser goed. Dit is het eerste typische Kompakt nummer dat ik tegenkwam toen ik "Save The World" beluisterde en het is al het voorlaatste. Een hoop fans zullen nu wellicht ontgoocheld zijn want Superpitcher en Mayer hadden zo een hoop tracks kunnen maken, no doubt. Waarom kozen ze dan voor de andere, moeilijkere weg?

Wel, ze hebben duidelijk beslist om hun creativiteit niet te laten beperken tot één genre, nota bene het genre waarmee ze bekend werden, en zonder hun sound te verloochenen zijn ze voorzichtig, maar meestal succesvol, andere wegen ingeslagen. Na een eerste luisterbeurt zal je dit album waarschijnlijk niet wereldschokkend vinden maar na een goeie week, misschien zelfs een maand, zal je (hopelijk), net zoals ik overigens, inzien dat dit album misschien wel één van de beste van 2007 is.

Keeping kids up to date since 1992.

2007-10-20T19:15:00.000+02:00

Tonight, the free nightlife magazine "Out Soon" celebrates its fifteenth anniversary in the famous Brussels-based nightclub Fuse. And they're celebrating in style with a Border Community label night with no other than the great James Holden and Fairmont, who will be performing a live set. Fuse residents Deg and Pierre will be accompanying them. In the other room, Tomaz, Steve Cop, Eric B and Joost De Lijser are taking some classic acid, house, techo and trance records off the shelf in an attempt to bring back old memories of departed greatness. For this special night, Fuse is also opening its third room where the Out Soon editors have a chance to spin their favourite records. If this party is as good as the monthly Out Soon edition, this night will be memorable.

Late-night Justice

2007-10-17T22:10:00.001+02:00

Ed Banger figureheads Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard (don't give me that what'd-he-say-look, I'm talking about Justice!) are currently on a mini-tour through NorthAmerica and last tuesday, they made a live appearence on Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show. They (well, not exactly, you'll catch my drift soon enough) played D.A.N.C.E. Prepare for a weird ride:

Koze/Cosy

2007-10-15T21:15:00.001+02:00

German Stefan Kozalla or Dj Koze started out with making hip hop in the early nineties, and was then struck by lightning (I have no other explanation). He got into minimal and developed a unique sound, as striking as lightning. Slow BPM, cosy and humorous post-minimal. It locks itself inside your head; the Germans like to call this an “Ohrworm”. Here’s a few which can be found on the good man's MySpace:

Dj Koze vs Sid le Rock – Naked (Dj Koze rmx)
Matthew Dear – Elementary lover (Dj Koze rmx)
Lawrence – Rabbit tube (Dj Koze rmx)

Private tutoring from Luciano.

2007-10-15T20:24:00.000+02:00

This month,Luciano is releasing his new material, Études Électroniques, on his very own Cadenza Records and believe it or not it's been a while: the last Luciano release on Cadenza dates from May 2006 (!). Cadenza is home to rather lengthy, groovy tunes with some Latin rhythm mixed in, produced by the likes of Loco Dice, Pikaya, Alejandro Vivanco and Argenis Brito. "Études Électroniques" promises more of the same and we don't mind one bit!

Tracklist
Montana
Fochedrem
Masalla
Nunca Tiene Bastante

Je t'âme

2007-10-13T20:54:00.000+02:00

Every weekend, we give a tip, or several , regarding parties which we think are going to rock. Most of the times, we won't even be lying, since at least one of us will usually be on the dancefloor of the party we recommend.

Berlijn boven in Leuven vanavond: Âme en Dixon spelen ten dans op Sunnyside Up in club Silo. De twee heren van Âme en hun maatje Dixon zijn sinds jaar en dag boegbeelden van de minimal house scene. Ze zijn naast veelgevraagde dj’s ook steengoede producers en tevens de grand pubahs van het kwaliteitslabel Innervisions.

Enkele minimalplaten die we jullie niet willen onthouden:
Marcus Worgull – Spellbound
Roland Appel - Dark Soldier
Trickski - Red Tape
Siobhan Donaghy – Don’t give it up (Carl Craig instrumental rmx)
Tracey Thorn - It’s all true (Martin Buttrich rmx)

Jesus's resurrection

2007-10-08T12:24:00.000+02:00

The very first mixtape on this blog comes from Liss. , my fellow blogger who's a part-time college kid and a part-time party animal but a full-time lazy ass since I put his mix up. Tunes don't always have to sound raw, they can also be funky and deep housy, something he's defenitely taken to heart when he made this mix for the Brussels based radio show Beatz & Bleepz (though through telekinesis he already kinda knew that his set was gonna be up here someday...).

Anyway, here's the playlist:

01.Snax - Honeymoon's over (Jamie Lidell rmx)
02.Escort - All through the night
03.In Flagranti - In genital blue room
04.Faze Action - In the trees (Carl Craig rmx)
05.Arto Mwambe - Ombala mbembo
06.CSS - Let's make love (Hot Chip rmx)
07.Discemi - Data Sapiens (Radio Slave rmx)

you can download it here

Some much needed soulwaxin'

2007-10-04T21:09:00.000+02:00

Belgische überproducers David & Stephen Dewaele brengen binnenkort een dubbelalbum uit met hun beste remixes op. De titel is (best even diep inademen):

"Most of the Remixes We've Made Over the Years Except for One by Einsturzende Neubaten Because We Lost it and a Few We Didn't Think Sounded Good Enough or Just Didn't Fit In But Including Some That are Hard to Find Because Either People Forgot About Them Or Just Simply Because They Haven't Been Released Yet. A Few We Really Love. One We Think is Just OK. Some We Did For Free. Some We Did For Money. Some Just For Ourselves Without Permission and Some For Friends as Swaps But Never On Time and Always At Our Studio In Ghent."

Vraag dat maar eens bij je betere platenboer. Anyway, de compilatie zal op 22 oktober uitgegeven worden.

Tracklist
CD1

01. The Gossip - Standing in the Way of Control (Soulwax Remix)
02. LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing at My House (Soulwax Shibuya Re-remix)
03. Human Resource - Dominator (Soulwax Remix)
04. Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow (Soulwax Remix)
05. Dj Shadow - Six Days (Soulwax Remix)
06. Justice - Phantom Pt.2 (Soulwax Remix)
07. Kylie - Can't Get You Out of My Head (Soulwax Kyluss Mix)
08. Gorillaz - Dare (Soulwax Remix)
09. Robbie Williams - Love Light (Soulwax Remix)
10. Arthur Agent - Hold Your Head Up (Soulwax Remix)
11. Lords Of Acid - Sit on Acid (Soulwax Remix)
12. Daft Punk - Robot Rock (Soulwax Remix)
13. Sugarbabes - Round & Round (Soulwax Remix)
14. Muse - Muscle Museum (Soulwax Remix)

Op de tweede cd zijn de tracks aan elkaar gemixt (yay!)

1. Stella Maris - Einstuerzende Neubauten - Hidden Track
2. LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing At My House (Soulwax Shibuya Re-remix)
3. Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control (Soulwax Remix)
4. Arthur Agent - Hold Your Head Up (Soulwhacked Mix)
5. Daft Punk - Robot Rock (Soulwax Remix)
6. Human Resource vs 808 State - Dominator (Soulwax Remix)
7. Robbie Williams - Lovelight (Soulwax Ravelight Dub)
8. Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head (Soulwax KYLUSS Remix)
9. West Philips - (I'm Just A Sucker) For A Pretty Face (Soulwax Remix)
10. Justice - Phantom Pt.II (Soulwax Remix)
11. Sugababes - Round Round (Soulwax Remix)
12. Tiga - Move My Body (Only4Erol mix)
13. Playgroup - Make It Happen (Soulwax Remix)
14. Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow (Soulwax Remix)
15. Felix Da Housecat - Rocket Ride (Soulwax Remix)
16. Ladytron - Seventeen (Soulwax Remix)
17. Gorillaz - DARE (Soulwax Remix)
18. Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor (Soulwax Remix)
19. Lords Of Acid - I Sit On Acid (Soulwax Remix)
20. DJ Shadow - Six Days (Soulwax Remix)

A start without an end?

2007-10-03T20:41:00.000+02:00

This blog will contain our thoughts on albums, artists, parties, festivals and striking details which only appear to be striking to ourselves. We're by no means professional and will merely use this blog to get some things out of our system and to give some, entirely unprofessional of course, "recommendations". Occasionaly, you'll also find sets on this blog, whenever one of our comrades decides to chuck a mixtape on our desk.

We're Belgian, so posts will be in Dutch as well as English, et quand nous sommes en bonne humeur, même en français!