ARTIST: Various
TITLE: Soma Compilation 2010
LABEL: Soma
FORMAT: unmixed CD compilation
RELEASED: February 1
Somewhat cheekily titled, given that this compilation actually contains most of what the Glasgow label was up to on vinyl this year. But don’t let that out you off.
Highlights here include Funk Devoid & Sian teaming up on a ‘sleazy dub’ version of their eerie, understated club classic ‘A Raven Wheeling Overhead’, Gary Beck’s lively fusion of live brass and drum machine funk on ‘Tijuana’ and the reverb-drenched, vocoder-heavy electro of Let’s Go Outside’s ‘Machismo’.
The ever original Silicone Soul and the caustic Autechre,
whose mix of The Black Dog’s ’Tunnels OV Set’ welds hip-hop beats to electronic extremism, are probably the biggest names on display, alongside label owners Slam whose anthem ‘Positive Education’ gets yet another remix courtesy of D’Julz,
Admittedly, Soma shows little sign of ever diversifying from its devotion to second generation Detroit heroes like Jeff Mills and Drexciya, but a wholesale conversation to dubstep, crunk or donk at this stage would just seem like daftly opportunistic bandwagon-jumping. In fact, there are subtle developments going on here and that, together with a wide-eyed enthusiasm for intelligent, original dancefloor techno which positively oozes out of the CD player, indicates that the Soma empire has a lot more years in it yet.
7/10
Tuesday 24 November 2009
SINGLE REVIEW: ALEX METRIC
ARTIST: ALEX METRIC
TITLE: IT STARTS EP
LABEL: Marine Parade
FORMAT: CD
RELEASED: digital November 30 / physical January 18
After putting his name on the house music map with remixes for U2, Bloc Party and Phoenix in 2009, Alex Metric rounds off the year with a versatile EP destined for pop crossover and underground DJ support alike.
The EP’s title track is a surprisingly perky vocal track, sounding like an amphetamine-boosted New Order on their most commercial form and boasting some truly roasting guitar abuse from Russell Lissack of Bloc Party fame. The hooks are so catchy that remixers.Evil Nine can’t help but retain them for their equally 80s-slanted but beefed up beatswise remix.
But most interesting for more club-orientated DJs will be the two instrumental tracks ‘Discotron’ and the orgasmic ‘Gusto’, the latter of which has been proving the climax to most of Metric’s set this year. Similarly retro nods to New Order, Depeche Mode and other 80s synthpop greats make the chances of a thumbs up from Spikyben considerably more likely, provided of course they’re dragged up to date with new skool 00s beats like this, of course. Something for everyone, then, and a big indication that Metric is a serious contender for a big breakthrough in 2010.
4/5
TITLE: IT STARTS EP
LABEL: Marine Parade
FORMAT: CD
RELEASED: digital November 30 / physical January 18
After putting his name on the house music map with remixes for U2, Bloc Party and Phoenix in 2009, Alex Metric rounds off the year with a versatile EP destined for pop crossover and underground DJ support alike.
The EP’s title track is a surprisingly perky vocal track, sounding like an amphetamine-boosted New Order on their most commercial form and boasting some truly roasting guitar abuse from Russell Lissack of Bloc Party fame. The hooks are so catchy that remixers.Evil Nine can’t help but retain them for their equally 80s-slanted but beefed up beatswise remix.
But most interesting for more club-orientated DJs will be the two instrumental tracks ‘Discotron’ and the orgasmic ‘Gusto’, the latter of which has been proving the climax to most of Metric’s set this year. Similarly retro nods to New Order, Depeche Mode and other 80s synthpop greats make the chances of a thumbs up from Spikyben considerably more likely, provided of course they’re dragged up to date with new skool 00s beats like this, of course. Something for everyone, then, and a big indication that Metric is a serious contender for a big breakthrough in 2010.
4/5
Friday 20 November 2009
SINGLE REVIEW: HARVEY McKAY
ARTIST: HARVEY McKAY
TITLE: Nightwalker / Raw
LABEL: Soma
FORMAT: 12” vinyl
RELEASED: January 25
If we tell you that ‘Nightwalker‘ has been the most played track in Richie Hawtin’s sets over the last eight weeks then you’ll probably have some idea what to expect. Brooding, building rhythms, slowly adding and subtracting elements with almost imperceptible subtlety. Vinyl distortion crackling away in the background. A spooked out synth line that sends shivers down your spine And, we not much else. Well, that is why they call it minimal, isn’t it?!
It’s a DJ tool for sure and as such hardly likely to get the postman whistling, but all the same several cuts above the average dancefloor filler. Flip track ’Raw’ is even more spacious and weird, its hi-hats creeping up on you as echoing effects bring vintage Sabres of Paradise to mind. Class all round.
3/5
www.myspace.com/harvproducer
TITLE: Nightwalker / Raw
LABEL: Soma
FORMAT: 12” vinyl
RELEASED: January 25
If we tell you that ‘Nightwalker‘ has been the most played track in Richie Hawtin’s sets over the last eight weeks then you’ll probably have some idea what to expect. Brooding, building rhythms, slowly adding and subtracting elements with almost imperceptible subtlety. Vinyl distortion crackling away in the background. A spooked out synth line that sends shivers down your spine And, we not much else. Well, that is why they call it minimal, isn’t it?!
It’s a DJ tool for sure and as such hardly likely to get the postman whistling, but all the same several cuts above the average dancefloor filler. Flip track ’Raw’ is even more spacious and weird, its hi-hats creeping up on you as echoing effects bring vintage Sabres of Paradise to mind. Class all round.
3/5
www.myspace.com/harvproducer
Wednesday 11 November 2009
SINGLE REVIEW: JAGA JAGGIST
Artist: Jaga Jazzist
Title: One Armed Bandit
Label: Ninja Tune
Format: Free download (http://www.myspace.com/jagajazzist)
Released: Now
Imagine if old 70z prog band Soft Machine had been born in California and raised on a mixture of jazz-funk and old skool Mo’Wax and you’re getting close to imagining the sound of Norway’s nine piece Jaga Jazzist.
No doubt confounding to some - nothing here seems to follow the regular dance music rule of ‘pick a beat then run with it’ - the Ninja stalwarts have hit on something heavy, unconventional and quite irresistible. With a live band rather than programmed feel, there’s oodles of character and very human playfulness , but they’re definitely as fun as they are experimental. A name for the ’must see live’ list.
5/5
Title: One Armed Bandit
Label: Ninja Tune
Format: Free download (http://www.myspace.com/jagajazzist)
Released: Now
Imagine if old 70z prog band Soft Machine had been born in California and raised on a mixture of jazz-funk and old skool Mo’Wax and you’re getting close to imagining the sound of Norway’s nine piece Jaga Jazzist.
No doubt confounding to some - nothing here seems to follow the regular dance music rule of ‘pick a beat then run with it’ - the Ninja stalwarts have hit on something heavy, unconventional and quite irresistible. With a live band rather than programmed feel, there’s oodles of character and very human playfulness , but they’re definitely as fun as they are experimental. A name for the ’must see live’ list.
5/5
SINGLE REVIEW: THE HEAVY
Artist: The Heavy
Title: No Time
Label: Counter
Format: CD single
Released: November 23
A nice mixture of the er, heavier rock side of The Heavy, as in evidence on their latest LP ‘The House That Dirt Built’ and the blues/funk that made their debut so compulsive.
Singer Swaby’s complaints about the lack of attention his lady lavishes upon him may not be the most originals of lyrical themes, but there’s still some passion and power in his vocal delivery, so coupled with a catchiness many guitar bands would do well to emulate and backed with a superlative instrumental remix by Ghost which concentrates on the substantial Zeppelin-meets-Funkadelic groove, this is an attractive package.
3/5
Title: No Time
Label: Counter
Format: CD single
Released: November 23
A nice mixture of the er, heavier rock side of The Heavy, as in evidence on their latest LP ‘The House That Dirt Built’ and the blues/funk that made their debut so compulsive.
Singer Swaby’s complaints about the lack of attention his lady lavishes upon him may not be the most originals of lyrical themes, but there’s still some passion and power in his vocal delivery, so coupled with a catchiness many guitar bands would do well to emulate and backed with a superlative instrumental remix by Ghost which concentrates on the substantial Zeppelin-meets-Funkadelic groove, this is an attractive package.
3/5
SINGLE REVIEW:
Artist: DJ Food
Title: The Shape of Things To Hum
Label: Ninja Tune
Format: 5 track vinyl / 9 track CD
Released: December 14
The welcome return of DJ Food, once a collaborative banner for Coldcut and friends but these days the sole preserve of Camberwell resident Strictly Kev. Once part of the Open Mind collective - see also Mira Calix and fellow member David, who does the artwork here - Kev certainly hasn’t abandoned his twin roots in hip-hop and sonic experimentalism, with the results being an amorphous trip through soundscapes and echoing, multi-layered spoken word all underpinned with a sturdy b-boy backbone.
Forgive the obvious comparison, but sounds like kind of rich, deep ambient trip hop DJ Shadow might have ended up making if he hadn’t got sidetracked by post-rock, UNKLE collaborations and the DJ Hero computer game. Still more modern than most of the week’s postbag - welcome back to the fray.
4/5
Title: The Shape of Things To Hum
Label: Ninja Tune
Format: 5 track vinyl / 9 track CD
Released: December 14
The welcome return of DJ Food, once a collaborative banner for Coldcut and friends but these days the sole preserve of Camberwell resident Strictly Kev. Once part of the Open Mind collective - see also Mira Calix and fellow member David, who does the artwork here - Kev certainly hasn’t abandoned his twin roots in hip-hop and sonic experimentalism, with the results being an amorphous trip through soundscapes and echoing, multi-layered spoken word all underpinned with a sturdy b-boy backbone.
Forgive the obvious comparison, but sounds like kind of rich, deep ambient trip hop DJ Shadow might have ended up making if he hadn’t got sidetracked by post-rock, UNKLE collaborations and the DJ Hero computer game. Still more modern than most of the week’s postbag - welcome back to the fray.
4/5
ALBUM REVIEW: DIRTY VEGAS
Artist: VARIOUS
Title: Dirty Vegas - Stealth Live!
Label: Harmless
Format: Mix CD
Released: Now!
Live recording of Dirty Vegas in DJ action in Manchester, rolling out their trademark breakbeaty house to a rapturous response. Thinking of the power of Orbital at Glastonbury 1993 and Jeff Mills’ ‘Liquid Rooms’ mixes, it’s surprising more people don’t record it this way. Although the idiotic MC who interjects here should give it a rest, even if his presence is heavily restricted.
Their own remix of 21’s ‘Death Metal Disco Scene’, with its clonking Peter Hook bassline and skippy, Basement Jaxx-y house beats rounded off with some truly debauched spoken word purred by an on-heat female, drops early and ups the pace.
It’s a perfect example of what Dirty Vegas have going for them - a drugged up sense of party fun, flirtations with dance’s culture’s messy side and a skill in taking their ideas to an almost but not quite ludicrous degree.
Other names contributing tracks include Santos, Mark Knight & D Ramirez and Adam Beyer, along with several of DV’s own productions, and if big room house music with a largin’ it attitude to match is your thing, this should be top of your shopping list.
6/10
Title: Dirty Vegas - Stealth Live!
Label: Harmless
Format: Mix CD
Released: Now!
Live recording of Dirty Vegas in DJ action in Manchester, rolling out their trademark breakbeaty house to a rapturous response. Thinking of the power of Orbital at Glastonbury 1993 and Jeff Mills’ ‘Liquid Rooms’ mixes, it’s surprising more people don’t record it this way. Although the idiotic MC who interjects here should give it a rest, even if his presence is heavily restricted.
Their own remix of 21’s ‘Death Metal Disco Scene’, with its clonking Peter Hook bassline and skippy, Basement Jaxx-y house beats rounded off with some truly debauched spoken word purred by an on-heat female, drops early and ups the pace.
It’s a perfect example of what Dirty Vegas have going for them - a drugged up sense of party fun, flirtations with dance’s culture’s messy side and a skill in taking their ideas to an almost but not quite ludicrous degree.
Other names contributing tracks include Santos, Mark Knight & D Ramirez and Adam Beyer, along with several of DV’s own productions, and if big room house music with a largin’ it attitude to match is your thing, this should be top of your shopping list.
6/10
ALBUM REVIEW: TASTY
Artist: VARIOUS
Title: Tasty Episode 1
Label: Electric Tastebud
Format: Mix CD
Released: Jan/Feb 2010
Shockingly one dimensional and unreconstructed breakbeat selection most notable for the inclusion of a handful of unremarkable tunes by Leeroy Thornhill of Prodigy fame.
Production that sounds like it was someone’s first effort on a cheap plug in studio, plus some attempts at early 90s Prodigy-style rave alongside equally cheap stabs at dubstep and garage all consign this to the creative dustbin.
2/10
Title: Tasty Episode 1
Label: Electric Tastebud
Format: Mix CD
Released: Jan/Feb 2010
Shockingly one dimensional and unreconstructed breakbeat selection most notable for the inclusion of a handful of unremarkable tunes by Leeroy Thornhill of Prodigy fame.
Production that sounds like it was someone’s first effort on a cheap plug in studio, plus some attempts at early 90s Prodigy-style rave alongside equally cheap stabs at dubstep and garage all consign this to the creative dustbin.
2/10
ALBUM REVIEW: FOUR:TWENTY MUSIC:03
Artist: VARIOUS
Title: Four:Twenty Music:03
Label: Four:Twenty
Format: Mix CD
Released: January 2010
House music never died for a reason - and this 27-track strong collection of undeniably loveable big and beefy tribal four to the floor behaviour.is a great example of why.
On paper this mixed waltz through the back catalogue of Bristol-based label Four:Twenty might seem anything but revolutionary. The fact its resident constructor Glimpse’s main claim to fame is featuring on Detroit techno originator Carl Craig’s Planet E label should give you a clue as to the strict adherence to a vintage blueprint of late 80s/early 90s house-verging-on-techno here.
But the real test is not on paper but in the CD drawer the prestigious line up including veteran underground names like Move D, Loco Dice and (Luke) Solomun makes for results which are in the main hypnotic, cunningly building,
7/10
Title: Four:Twenty Music:03
Label: Four:Twenty
Format: Mix CD
Released: January 2010
House music never died for a reason - and this 27-track strong collection of undeniably loveable big and beefy tribal four to the floor behaviour.is a great example of why.
On paper this mixed waltz through the back catalogue of Bristol-based label Four:Twenty might seem anything but revolutionary. The fact its resident constructor Glimpse’s main claim to fame is featuring on Detroit techno originator Carl Craig’s Planet E label should give you a clue as to the strict adherence to a vintage blueprint of late 80s/early 90s house-verging-on-techno here.
But the real test is not on paper but in the CD drawer the prestigious line up including veteran underground names like Move D, Loco Dice and (Luke) Solomun makes for results which are in the main hypnotic, cunningly building,
7/10
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