nick holder & jemini - no more dating dj's (pete rock remix)

on "underground alternatives", nick holder's second full length outing for nrk sound division in '00, he opened up the album with the track "america eats it's young". it's a swinging housey affair with spoken word artist joanne geiry aka jemini going off on the american societal problems back around the turn of the millennium. none the less i reckon it's still relevant today in the same way the gil scott-heron's "the revolution will not be televised" still holds up. both are loaded with references to specific events and pop culture for that particular time but carries the message through despite that.

for holder's following album for nrk, "the otherside", released three years after "underground alternatives" once again jemini was invited to collaborate. although on "no more dating dj's" the focus was shifted towards jemini and less on the rhythm. in fact holder's production is a bit too basic for my standard but i know its purpose as it's completely built around geiry's words and the track drops out at ever punchline of sorts.

the single release in '04 some remixes came up by john ciafone, yam who and pete rock. the first of which had the job of doing the 120bpm uptempo mix as nrk is more known as a house label. yam who did a small radio version that added some pads and bass and works quite well. pete rock did his thing with the track and this usually involves a new groove and it's a really good one.

pete rock also punches the drums in and out at every punchline but i like this version the most as the groove doesn't come to a halt. then again the beat is almost secondary with jemini's spot on observations of the life of living together with dj's. of course some of it is very tongue-in-cheek but it's also stories and revelations of people interested in music outside of actually practising instruments. even on that note i think it can be applied to as well since the personal lives of a lot of male artists include being tools to everyone that likes them, or at least so they say.

the only thing i could criticise jemini's story about is that it revolves the relationship male dj and female girlfriend & fellow musicenthusiast. the song was made over ten years ago and the ratio male to female dj's in the consciousness was without exaggerating about thirty to one, where as now it is maybe ten to one. part of which why i brought this up was as i was noting on a tweet by a swedish journalist and dj. this person wondered why the relationship of mockery falls together on mostly a male dj as there is more female dj's working out there now, in a true sense of equality of sorts.

my answer and reaction wasn't the normal stereotype of "there isn't any female dj's" but that "female dj's are less of a douchebag" (as in females are gentle human beings compared to those savage males) and less subjected in mockery in that sense. they are in general critiqued for if they actually have skill, you know because females couldn't possibly be dj's and selecting songs in an order and transitioning them is a thing for people with penises.

with this a separate thought came to mind about two special cases within the trance-related community with sandra collins and dj irene* especially in regards to other dj's with penises like sasha and dj keoki. collins had a reputation of heavy drinking and so had sasha, although sasha would consume all sorts of drugs at his most mental phases. only sasha's stories of him being off his tits in a ditch an hour before going on and mixing is regarded as legendary and are told with refrains, where as sandra collins stories are told with judgement and critisism.

for the other case with keoki and irene it has to do with both had used a heavy marketing ploy of the big egocentric rockstar dj. even though i know keoki has been in and out the gutter in his career, keoki has stand up with all of the mockery of this image but the backlash of dj irene is something you cannot imagine. the problematic is that with the sexist and judgemental society you do not want to bring up these cases as i don't think it does good for anyone.

i think men as a collective should be able to take the critism or mockery as females are subjected to a boatload of unjustified hate and discrimnation to a much bigger extent. in most cases of the critism that falls upon men it's for lowering or shattering ego's of individuals that take their role a bit to seriously. ultimately in a true sense of equality you should be able to do talk about female dj's as douchebags without the judgement but i still don't see this happening in the following years.

anyhow, i'm stepping down from the soapbox now. also the tune is brilliant.

buy here (junodownload)

*yes i know irene plays hardhouse and sandra collins went into progressive house but it's still all clobbmuzik over 135 bpm, even though collins hasn't gone over that tempo in years.

herbert - in the kitchen

"in the kitchen" comes from herbert's album "around the house" and it's one of the crowning moments on that album. the concept per say is quite typical herbert in the sense of exploring what to do with recorded sound and molding it together with generated sound (for a lack of better term). matthew herbert took it upon him to really go into the concept of "house" and record fragments and samples from the ongoings at his own house.

with most of the tracks it's in herbert's normal modus operandi in which he creates songs that are meant to make you dance but is done with element with atypical origins of club music. "in the kitchen" however is what happens if you take the kickdrum out the equation. there is a rhythm involved and to a certain extent i'd think it's interesting to hear this played together with some slower stripped down techno but it should be at the right context.

for the most part the piece is really what is says on the tin as you hear matthew herbert and richard vine cooking a meal. slowly some music by herbert and vine is brought on but it's as both elements are coexisting layers of sound. you can hear it as one composition but it you can also choose if you want to focus on the music or the field recording and have it as mood piece or as lowkey dance music.

in my perspective this is a mood piece as i'm a homelistener and i'm interested in the whole thing in the way it builds and takes its form over the length of time. i hear this as lounge or background music that has a purpose other than to be the soundtrack to your latte or meal. to use a well worn out cliché in terms of this kind of music, it's something that rewards paying attention.

buy here (bandcamp)

f. massif - bitstreak

"bitstreak" was the b-side to "understatement" which i know was a track was cained hard with trance dj's, along with their remix of ferry corsten's "rock your body rock". for me however i never knew any of that or was oblivious to it in general, i have heard "understatement" in sets and it is very much no nonsense trance. but i guess i was out of it at the time or liking some other tracks or something.

as a logical move of that i heard "bitstreak" far after the run of all of the tracks mentioned and it was because of it's breakbeat nature that made interested in it. same time i was discovering that ferry corsten was actually signing a whole load of interesting material on his labels if you looked past the main trancy imprints. this actually came out on one of the sublabels that was sort of unprofiled but i think it could have easily been on tsunami special blend.

f massif was one of the many projects from frank van der brink, most of which i have never heard of prior and am not really interested in looking inte either. it was together with hugo soss which according to discogs hasn't put out anything beyond this project. it didn't last long other than two releases, two remixes and a collaboration called "show your style" on ferry corsten's "right of way" album.

what attracted me to "bitstreak" was it's versatility in that it's very driving but never really goes off and it's different phases is definitely for the dj at hand. it might seem heavy weight in the beginning on glance but it really doesn't power up until the last minutes where it then changes into a four on floor. the layers of crunchy and buzzing machine sounds is a good companion piece to the bassline and the snappy drumbreak.

you don't really expect what is about to come in the tailend of the track either as the eighties style pads that is brought on halfway into the track brings the mood down. the track may chug away but you get the impression that it's on a slower tempo. this also makes the impact on the switch to the four on the floor much bigger. it really a perfect tool for the dj when it's time to transition and the many times i've played this track it's been this way i've worked it.

buy here (junodownload)

olive - miracle (monkey mafia remix)

the discovery of this song definitely was when i got my big jon carter/monkey mafia kick and i really don't know if i had really listened to "miracle" prior to it. it was probably in the consciousness following the big success of "you're not alone" but i remember hearing "outlaw" more than "miracle". post that phase i had heard some hubbub about deep dish's remix but in terms of straight up house mixes i prefered murk's funky green remix from the re-release of "miracle".

i have mentioned this before but prior to ableton and it's effective and qualitative timestretching mechanisms you have would have problems with a vocal from the tempo of 75-85 bpm. that is if one planning a house remix and you would have to pick the route that sounds the best. murk picked the slower route for their full vocal mix and it's quite audible that something has been altered. deep dish didn't do a full vocal mix because of this and the only full vocal remixes came from roni size and monkey mafia.

what both of them have in common is that the tempos was less problematic for working but i still take doc scott's techstep meets atmospheric drum & bass remix of that. carter's version is also built on atmosphere but it's only the intro as once the drums hit those sort of sweeping synthetic or metallic sounds become a part of the soundscape. jon carter's take on hip-hop isn't that much different from say liam howlett and this one is definitely for someone who likes the prodigy's "poison".

listen here (youtube)

donna dee - i want your love

for some reason the name "donna dee" popped into my head a few days ago and it wasn't even on a garage kick type thing. first time i heard about donna dee was through swedish tv-channel ztv back in '98 or '99 and they interviewed her as dee was playing in stockholm. it was probably in promotion for the album "spellbound" that had come out and dee also talked about garage or speed garage.

at that time i had no clue on what that kind of music was and i've stated this before but i didn't get it then, and wouldn't understand it until many years later and by then 2-step was a thing of the past. now that doesn't stop me digging up things and when i was doing my research and looked if dee was still active, i noticed that in '08 most of her backcatalogue was put up digitially.

it included the album "spellbound" as mentioned and an album released called "breaks in the heart" with material that came after the album. also another compilation that is pushed as a greatest hits but is more as the alternative version of "breaks in the heart" along with some odds and ends. there is also an acoustic ep that saw donna stripping down and playing some of the hits on guitar.

apart from that i haven't seen much activity but it did lead me to check out the catalogue and from the album "spellbound" comes "i want your love" which i liked a lot. it's very much a classic garage houser and was one of the album singles. a punchy four on the floor kicks along with some light keyes and elements and build up quite nice until the bassline and the vocals hits the track.

true to the genre the bass is quite subby and sound somewhat muffled with headphones and other systems but it booms really nicely in the bottom end. rhalia birch who also would up singing on donna dee & ils' "lurvin' you" and a few of the songs on the "breaks in the heart" does a stunning job with the vocal.

buy here (junodownload)

note that most of the songs are mistitled on juno and elsewhere.

rivet - grifter

when i was listening to the radio show "elektroniskt i p2", which is hosted by andreas tilliander, i heard a segment about mika hallbäck aka grovskopa's new project rivet and was fascinated. previously i had seen the article on the rivet on resident advisor but i wasn't to up on the tracks featured except for "sleepwalker". the rest was techno that i wasn't feeling at the time really and i know i didn't take a full listen to "grifter" because i would have been in love for the second half.

"grifter" starts sort of mundane with a telephone call in french which then goes into a kick drum that has either a reverbtrail or is compressing something. as the track builds you hear a small dialtone everytime a new element is brought on and right up to the first two minutes it was like any other techno. which is why i discarded the track as standard material in october when i read that article.

past that point a distorted bassline carried on with a drumbreak is being filtered in and this is what caught my ear yesterday. hallbäck sampled this loop from baby d's hardcore rave classic "let me be your fantasy" and that is a track that i love. that section especially is something that i dispised when i was younger but is nowadays, for all i care, the main course.

this element does bring something special to the track as it's so dominant and heavy but hallbäck does also back it up with additional sounds so it works well in the mix. proper banging techno music,

listen here (resident advisor)

note, it's vinyl only as skudge's label who put this out is a vinyl only label.

melody club - baby (stand up) (emmon remix)

might as well carry on the vibe from yesterday with someone from the last decade trying to sounds like the two decades prior. in this case swedish band melody club who is sort of the missing link between the human league and the ark. this song "baby (stand up)" was quite big when it was released in '04 and i really despised it during it's first run but got softer but my hatred softened eventually as it's to damn catchy.

when doing my runs in recordshops and the likes, i've seen the single for "baby" countless times but has passed up on it as i haven't cared to buy it. two years ago i did have a change of heart as i noticed that it also had remixes and that emmon was one of them. emmon is emma nylén of paris, swedish indie-rockband turned synthband, and is also one of the main singers & songwriters in the group.

emmon's rendition is quite faithful to the song except all of the instruments from the group has been tossed away and replayed electronically. the result it a driving italo-flirt with a killer bassline and it was this who made forget about the original song and make it the defacto original. nylén starts it quite soft and wistfull with the kick and a light pad and hints of the vocal but when it the bassline kicks in, it's down to business. the resonance and soft squelch is sort of acidy in tone and when the break hits near the end it's a great moment as you hear the power of it.

buy here (itunes)

olga kouklaki - keep on going (volga select remix)

i saw the single for olga kouklaki's "getalife" a few years ago and i had never even heard of kouklaki prior but i picked it up on the strength of remixes. when i looked into the single on discogs and on the intarwebs i found out that kouklaki was part of a project called odd and released a record on sumsonic in '03. that track was called "don't look at me" and was cained by many of the top progressive house & breaks dj's at the time.

the artwork for the single was also enticing in the same way as arctic monkey's "whatever people say i am, that's why i'm not" as kouklaki is pictured on a leather couch smoking a cigarette and wearing a "i don't give a fuck" attitude. i don't really smoke or condone smoking either but i'm not going lecture people how to live and i think good photography transcends the horrid choices of living. but it wasn't just for the artwork i bought the single but it certainly was eyecatching.

"getalife" is sort of a body influenced track and i really like the cold nature of the song with kouklaki having the same vicious attitude and vocal styling of caroline hervé aka miss kittin. stepping on remix work is black strobe and volga select or basically ivan smagghe in two different constellations. the black strobe remix is nice weird techno and carries on the body vibe but goes further into darker territories.

volga select, who is a formation with kouklaki's collaborator on the song marc collin, flips "getalife" into a more italo direction. the vocal has been treated a bit but not as much as in the black strobe remix but in general the song is light on the vocal as the melodies are in focus. also thibault barbillon's bassline takes a much bigger place here as it's much more tucked away behind the machine noise and the kick on the original.

smagghe and collin takes some of the best parts on the original and work them well into the mix. they also helped them self out to change the name for the song but make no mistake, it's a remix of "getalife" and it's a very driving piece of italoesque techno.

buy here (itunes)

jamie myerson - everything is going to be alright

a few days ago i caught someone talking about guilty pleasures on twitter and this sent me on a rant that i developed since i came to the conclusion that guilty pleasures as a concept is wrong. i believe that you should stand accountable for all sorts of art or opinion and don't use this waiver or a copout and say that it's a guilty pleasure. there is just two sides to this artwork called music, there is good and bad. i have different shades of good where the lowest is "i don't mind it" and even then i still like it. on the bad there is just that category, bad because otherwise you are just splitting ends.

i like a lot of music that isn't credible at all but i've probably mentioned most of it here on this blog. it's everything between eurodance and epic trance, random chart fodder, the sort of classic & opera pieces that are regarded as for beginners and has crossed over to the mainstream. same goes for jazz music of that kind and also all sorts of mundane or inane music that will send simon reynolds into a rant or lecture.

with regards to the easily picked on of the ones mentioned here i can explain that eurodance by default doesn't take itself seriously. it's dance music about dancing, there was a whole lot of it that had "conscious" topics but it had already been said many times before. this fact shatters all sorts of questions about credibility and disposability and it's also why it's credible in it's own right.

the music might be mundane but it has bite and this is the issue and when you strip of all the bite from music you basically have musac, anti-music disguised as music. a lot of chart fodder pop that can send you to irritation about how "awful" it is at least provokes you because it plays according to formula. i really don't like alexandra stan's "mr. saxobeat" or carly rae jepsen's "call me maybe", to use two examples on songs that i've taken a shit on for this blog, but they have some sort of bite and i can tolerate them but i still don't like them.

so to the song at hand then and this song is from jamie myerson's "the listen project" album, much like "crucial" as i talked about a few weeks ago. it's a very emotional piece at glance and i think myerson and carol tripp wants you and i to think so. all i hear is this serious piece of music trying to be soulful, comforting and uplifting and i think it fails within all of that. somehow i get the impression that myerson wanted to make something that sounds like if 4hero and grover washington jr. had done a collaboration.

fusing together contemporary jazz with modern drum and bass but it comes off less as that and more like the really soft side of omni trio and kenny g or david benoit. it plays right into all the clichés and it's devoid of all sorts of bite in every element. whether it's the rhythmic backdrop or the keys or donald ward's saxophone or carol tripp's vocal. a part of me doesn't want pick on the saxophone as it's a problematic instrument thanks to it's constant use in schmaltzy smooth jazz but i have to as it does fit the bill in this case.

basically if you boil down all of that random malarky, it comes down to that all of my instincts are saying that this song is musac. it's disguised as drum and bass but it's musac. i have issues calling it music that i stand for but i can also honestly say that i love this song. there isn't any way to really defend it with with my logic on what constintutes as good music but i do actually really love it. this sort of problematic was delved into in my entry on madrid de los austria's "mas amor".

what differentiates them is only by a smidge and has to be that "mas amor" has better instrumentation and has some bite. even though they have the same kind of modus operandi and i might be actually bullshitting myself over that also.

buy here (itunes)

dajaé - day by day (chez 'n' trent vocal mix)

following being interested in ron trent and chez damier's catalogue a few years ago i came on to this one after listening to the all the other classics. it certainly struck a chord with me and i ended up bumming it many sets at the time as it was too good to not be played. i did like the original mixes from cajmere and a few of the other versions such as carl craig's dub and dj sneak's remixes.

it's a different rendition from the package and along with deep dish's remixes the song was taken out the mid 90's chicago-esque setting. i didn't really like deep dish's version because it's standard progressive house and further more they produced much better material at the time of this release. chez damier & ron trent saw that there was a soulful ballad hiding within cajmere's jacking beats and with a reshaping and refocusing of the vocal it could be executed.

one of the many words that has been used to describe this remix is classy and i have to agree but it's also a textbook example of taking a track and making it into a song. cajmere's original production isn't completely a track but i think it has that rawness that it makes it almost strictly for the feet where as this is also for the ears. i do think the piano in the original is great but the keyboard work here takes it to a different level and the relationship with the bassline is brilliant as well.

the last minute or so of the song holds such a high class that i don't want it to end and when i used to play the dub i would just loop sections of this to make it last longer. love it.

buy here (junodownload)

jesper dahlbäck - diafragma

discovered this one a few months after it's release and i became a fan of it instantly and it's not hard to figure out why by listening to it. it comes from the "episkt" ep and saw a release on vinyl as well but i found it weird that it wasn't the titletrack on the a-side but "tanken". now this doesn't matter as they are all on the digital release but the logic does fail me.

anyhow the sound of this track could easily be mistaken for a track released as the persuader or jesper dahlbäck's sound from the svek era. the drums are much more rigid and more experimental but it wasn't like all persuader tracks sounded like "södermalm", "djurgårdsbron" or the beatport massive's favourite "what's the time mr. templar? (b2)". i would say though that it's a cross between the atmospheric vibe of "kungsträdgården" with the snap and punch of "nyckelpiga" or "midnight express part 2"

dahlbäck is quite inventive with the sound and as with all good techno or house, it's all within the details and layers. starts off with with two elements that are phased in and out separately and the tension they create along with with the reacting bassline is brilliant. dahlbäck is quite sneaky with it and when the tension subsides halfway in i am thinking like a skrillex fan when i say "where is the drop?"

the answer is that there is none, it carries on and further on builds on that tension even though it dips into an showing of pads at a couple of occacions. it was those pads that sent my heart leaping with joy as they sounded like some of the tracks previously mentions. it's the combination of an atmospheric vibe that is top tier within deeper house and techno combined with a building or driving motion that also lends itself to longer transitions. exactly records like this should be supported.

buy here (beatport)

adriana evans - swimming

back when i was following certain blogs religiously i heard adriana evans' "remember the love" being highlighted on one of them as a "hey, remember this track?" entry. basically what i do on a regular with this blog but i spend more time talking about other things than the song at hand. i remember really liking the track and listened to it quite a bit. what followed was that i went on the look for the album that had come out a few years prior but found her first album from 1997 instead.

it was done with rapper & producer jonathan scott aka dred scott who featured her on his track "check the vibe" released four years prior. the name of the game is of course r&b but in particular hiphop-soul or neo-soul. basically the idea of 70's and 80's soul music done with hiphop production and aestethics, i want to say 60's and i think a lot of the key players in mind want to say that as well but who are you fooling.

on most of the cuts from the album there was all sorts of live instrumentation and this included the three singles from the album. my interpretation is that some or most of them wasn't just for the r&b and hip-hip but for the contemporary crowd. then you hade songs like "hey brother", "love me", "in the sun" and the track at question "swimming" which was made from strictly from scott's mpc. i should note that third single "seein' is believing" was done with samples as a base but it also uses live instrumentation.

"swimming" is also my favourite song from the album and i think it's because it sounds a smidge like future single "remember the love". the rhytmic backdrop is the "outside love" break, which is most associated with pete rock as he's used it countless times, and a moody blend of a vibraphone-noodling and a guitar lick. love it especially when they drop off and come back in between the first chorus and the second verse. evans does her best crooning and the layering of the harmonies give of a nice vibe. like all good soul music should be sending out.

kobbe & austin leeds presents the pressure - daze

"daze" was a track that i listened to and played in sets ever since it was released and i still think it's amazing. first time i heard it was through armin van buuren's radioshow "a state of trance". after that it was seen as one of the big releases and recieved a whole lot play from various dj's. somehow i want to believe that the record is more of an austin leeds record than a kobbe record as kobbe was more associated with techier tracks.

the first collaboration between them "connection", was on belgian label headrooms imprint infrared and leaned towards the techier but that sound changed for the more melodic with "daze". it wasn't to be a sound that stayed for too long with their collaborations as it started to sound more tribal at first but it landed in the progressive house category.

with this one it's very much a textbook example of good driving and hypnotic trance music even though it's not completely that description. as it came out in 2004 the phenomena that was sidechaining had become a factor in all sorts of subgenres. mostly it was with the use of basslines and you hear the ducking motions in the bottom end of "daze".

other than that the track does what it should and relies on repetition and layers of sounds, it builds very well and has a good progression in general. the title of the song derives from the vocal sample used in the breakdown where they have sampled the beginning of perry farrell's reading of his poem "letters to xiola". during my most rabid phase of the breakdown-dislike i used to irritate myself over the breakdown of daze "as it took a bit too long".

that didn't take long for me to get over as i used to just take it out by mixing the track into itself as cutting it out in cool edit was too audible. i didn't like it if you could tell that something was missing and this is a statement that i live by today when i do my subtle edits. anyhow it was also mostly on occasions when i wanted to use the track just as a builder and not completely as a peak track. but i still love it in any form, except for m.i.k.e.'s remix which sucked out all the great ideas from the song made it into a bog ol' push track.

buy here (junodownload)

utah jazz - runaway

as i was listening to some 2-step and garage nuggets, after i read some piece or list with classics, i discovered a few tracks that had gone missing through my monthly cravings of classic garage. one of them was wookie's "runaway" and it kicked off with some nice beats but then came a moment of recognition. as the chorus played again i stopped the playback and thought of how i knew the vocal or the track in general.

naturally as anyone does i went on my usual search on google, discogs and whosampled to see if i found anything. as i found nothing i was close to give up to the frustration and give it a rest. googling the lyrics didn't help nor did any other blogs. discogs didn't help that much either so i maybe thought it was a unknown rejigged r&b track as it wasn't uncommon within garage that time.

then it hit me that it was from utah jazz and it was something that i had listened to quite a bit thanks to my friend ian who used to bum the nu:tone remix in his sets. like many tracks it fell into the back of mind as i somewhat got bored with liquid funk for a short while. but with this rediscovery my liking of the track came back definitely. has a vibe for homelistening but also for the body in motion depending if you mix and work it right.

wookie imagined his song as an r&b song originally and the two versions on the record are in this style with one being somewhat uk and the other more american. the garage dj's got their version on the flip and if i didn't make myself clear prior, i did like that alot. but i did notice in my search that the r&b versions got much more attention on blogs, forums, mixes and such. you would guess that is probably why utah jazz's version leans more to them than the 2-step version.

luke wilson aka utah jazz maybe recieved the vocals from wookie or he got elrae escorcio to re-sing it but i think it's former. for a short while i thought he maybe sampled the british sounding r&b mix in full but after analyzing the tracks in question, it was out of the question. especially since wilson used some hefty chunks from dionne warwick's version of "move me no mountain". what led me believe was the guitar licks but they definitely came from the sample.

i do like how used two or three different parts from the dionne warwick song along with elrae's vocal. it brings a good contrast and there's some of that american 90's r&b vibe embedded along with the use. proper nice soulful drum & bass

buy here (junodownload)

dj astrid - access denied (deep mix)

friend of mine turned me onto the original version of "access denied" as it was driving epic trance and some wild siren-like synths working with it, probably to play on the theme to the title. as with a lot of tracks i liked it a bit but fell into the back of my mind and when i revisited this record a few years laters things had changed. this time i was listening with fresh ears but also having a slight look at the track in a sense of "will this fit with what i play?".

it had a good groove and was driving and i liked those sensor type sounds in the build but i couldn't look past it's structure and the big breakdowns. i don't remember if i had started cutting up tracks but i know from listening to the original version now that it wouldn't be an easy fix. never the less i didn't care about it when i heard dj astrid walter's alternative version on the record. the deep mix strips it down to the groove and restructures the track to have just one effective drop.

after stripping of the conventional modern epic trance percussion that was on the original you hear the drums rattle much heavier. those sensor type sounds are also much more audible and the origin of them might be dälek or chewbacca but either way they are awesome. bottom line is that this that sort of driving heads down not-quite-techno but not-quite-trance that i like and it's perfect at peaking points.

uschi classen - she

first time i saw the name uschi classen was through "do you believe in love" on a ninja tune compilation, which was recorded as the uschi classen band. technically it was "ashley beedle presents" as a prefix and that name plays a role as classen has been part of that collective with beedle, marc woolford, darren "rocky" rock, darren "diesel" house, daniel hill, linsey edward and a few others. classen is has been responsible for playing keys on most of the releases but is a producer in it's own right as well.

in 2002 classen put out an album called "soul magic" on london label earth project and this was done without any help from the collective. ok, that isn't completely true as marc woolford mixed one track down but that really doesn't count in my book. vocal contributions come from mainly eska mtungwazi and dee ellington who appear on two and three songs respectively. there is also one from atjazz collaborator kimberly "kimra" kimbrough and the legend that is robert owens.

the sound "soul magic" somewhat explains what you might here on the record but it isn't any drastic from any previous output. it's a blend of funky grooves and soulful vocals which sounds like that blend between american r&b and uk bass music but much more smoother. a few of my favourites include the timbaland-esque "wise words", the classic broken beat groover "dizzy heights" and then "she". i also should note that the house mixes that classen created for the single releases of "home", "now illuminate" and "only in your eyes" are brilliant.

if you want to put it crudely then "she" is the showcasing of classens keyboard skills and programming. there is somewhat of a song hidden in between the different keyboard melodies. this is also why i like this track a lot as well though, it's flows well with the drum programming and the waggling moog bassline. it's more rewarding with listening to the details as the layers hide some of the brilliance that is shining through. the only real downer with this track is two soundeffects that is used throughout and is annoying but tolerable.

there is that body & soul kind of house feel within the music and combined with vibrant broken beats it's a good selling point for me. also for people who like 4hero and bugz in the attic in their more "jazzier" days.

listen here (youtube)

france gall - ella elle l'a (remix)

found out about "ella elle l'a" as a song through a cover by alizée when she performed a song in a televised tribute show to france gall. while i initially liked this version i must say that i think it's terrible nowadays as she wasn't meant to sing a song like this and neither did kate ryan. in the case of the latter i think it was just finding another french song that was a hit so they could follow the formula.

none the less, i quickly found out that about the original song and took a liking to it but it was when i heard the twelve inch remix that everything fell into place. this culminated during the phase when i also was listening to a whole load of italo and disco. i wouldn't say that this version wasn't that per say but it did draw influence from that and shift the focus with it's emphasised groove.

the persons responsible for the twelve inch reworking is dave ford and pete waterman (as in stock, aitken, waterman) and they did a remarkable but subdued work on this. the original was already recorded to a light drum machine groove but here it's a sturdy tr-909 or oberheim dmx four on the floor. the bassline was given more focus and there was some additional synth overdubs but it wasn't a whole lot of additional production. just reshaping and restructuring so the dj could have something to work with.

even though this version was meant for the dj's i think it one ups the original production by michel berger as the groove is better. the song itself is a tribute to ella fitzgerald and was meant to have a funk influence and some swinging beats but i can't hear that, only typical eighties sounds. if you're going down that route then take it the whole way atleast.

listen here (youtube)

daniel savio - real gangstas don't live

last summer i was up i stockholm to attend the release party for daniel savio's third full length album which was selftitled/untitled (by his own words mind you). i had heard "revolt" on youtube and heard an interview with him on local radio station metropol 93.8. i was already in the know about his previous music but i was up for hearing him in a live setting.

it was quite amazing and there was a whole lot of people crammed into this small room all in a half circle around savio and his machines. it was difficult to even move your body but i had since his beats was impossible to stand still to. he performed a few of his tunes from the album but with a hefty load of improvisation and i remember especially "inseminoid" which i learned later that it was called. after the show i listened a little bit to the album but i was sort of let down comparedt o the live versions as nothing was up to par to them.

so when daniel savio announced that he was releasing a new record on soundcloud and twitter, about a week ago, i was very interested. it was to be called "ill eagle" and "flying rats" was to be the single for the album and it's an great piece of skweee but when of course i knew there was to be more of that good stuff on the record.

the day after i listened through the album and i wasn't wrong about that but i also realised that there was a fixation on birds and especially on pigeons as four of ten are have that reference. never the less it's not about our flying friends but it is about the funk and i have three favourites track on the record. "sleezy genes" with it's deep bass and atmospheric tone, "pigeons" with it's banging drive and wild arrangement of sounds and then also "real gangstas don't live".

right from the get-go it starts with an infectious bassline and while the arrangement is quite straightforward it doesn't matter as the level of funk is set firmly on eleven. somehow i imagine myself trawling around really smoothly and not being bothered by the winter that it's clinging on it's last days. it's impossible to not move your body to this song or be anyhow affected that bassline to the rhythm in general.

it's probably the kind of stunning funk that even mr. dām-funk would be into. i heard him on radio talking about how certain producers are taking their funk influences into directions he wasn't fond but i think this could have easily be one of his productions. it is a bit more lo-fi than most as savio brand of skweee is quite true to the format however there is same foundation.

what matter is if it's funky or not and if i haven't made myself clear then this is really funky and so is most of the works on this album. well recommended.


buy here (bandcamp)

rocket - people (jeno vs. jamie anderson acid dub edit)

"people" comes originally from dj garth & eric james aka e.t.i, the same people that brought the world the club hit "twenty minutes of disco glory". in it's original state it was nice bumping techy groove that had a sort of churchy vocal sample and a swirling sound effects. the following year it came with new remixes by onionz & masterd, q-burns abstract message & huggy and dj jeno as "people" became somewhat of a big tune.

the first of the two focused on the groove and put more bump in the trunk except for jeno who decided to do a tighter groove and infuse some acid into the mix. jeno isn't a prolific producer but more of a dj but he knocked it out the park with this remix. he made it into a perfect summer tune which builds beautifully with that tight groove that goes into some sunshine-like chords and then get down to business with the silverbox. this version became the big hit and a few years after nrk sound division licensed it off to the uk for a re-release with new mixes as well.

apart from the mixes by rob mello & chicken lips, nrk also released one additional version on their unreleased dubs that came from jamie anderson. he took it upon him to rework jeno's remix and i think what he saw was this nice acidy tune and he wanted to put all the focus within that section and with some restructuring it now goes straight into it. when it ends anderson does runs a part with filtering and effects and repeats it again but from the bang of the acid. it's very effective and a great spin on a great tune.

buy here (beatport)

dasha rush - sonic static

after i heard dasha rush's remix of "phytoplankton" i was a little intrigued by the music but it wasn't more than the focus on bass and the soundscapes that was projected. basically it went to the back of my mind until i read an interview with dasha for resident advisor and where some interesting points where brought up.

especially with gender roles within techno music and how on a glance it's perceived to be very masculine to house music's more feminine exterior. this can stem from the relationship between detroit and chicago and how techno was viewed as the more cold and direct side to four on the four machine music. i don't feel like going that further into that theory as it's generally bullshit and is more of a societal thing rather than the music itself.

it comes through with the story of a friend of dasha who was playing at berlin's panorama bar and someone was criticising the dj for moving the body to the music rather being focused on the music. as someone who has seen dj john digweed and sleeparchive do nothing than look like a robot for hours, i'll take the latter over that. because frankly even though i generally go out for the sake of the music and my back is generally facing the dj or artist at hand, i still think they have a role of reacting somewhat to the music.

another interesting fact which is brought up is about the relation of dasha and bass which is talked about in the same paragraph. some scientific theory is mentioned about how really low frequencies is prime for the female organs reactions to the music. in which the statement is clear that women like bass and i think dasha lives and preaches this theory/fact.

"sonic static" is somewhat the title track the ep called "sonic state" and this is a vicious piece of techno. right from the getgo it's a four on the floor and a lower midrangey bassline that chugs away at a somewhat fiery tempo. a few additional sounds are brought on where it's larger triggered pieces that has been treated heavily in echoes and reverbs for that dub effect of sorts. as a shaker groove is about to be brought on the bassline pulsates even more and as the track goes deeper there is a few layers to the bass.

all of them are rumbling away with a great pace and i like the colleration to those layers and the really dissonant loop that is played halfway into the track. in terms of levels it isn't played loudly but because of the soundscape and how all focus is on the lower end it does do an impact. it's very very sinister and plays perfectly to the vibe of the track. proper.

buy here (junodownload)

hercules and love affair - visitor

a while ago i picked up hercules and love affair's album "blue songs" and it was with a couple other albums but i knew that i wasn't going to be dissatisfied. given the nature of me i wasn't completely after it as a whole entity but the tracks i could work in mixes and the likes. since hercules and love affair are great at making sort of throwback early 90's music i wasn't displeased as i listened through it all. songs like "my house", "falling" and the track that precedes "visitor" on the album, "step up" is great material for that cause.

but it wasn't that kind of house music that took me for the biggest surprise and the track i fell in love with the most. that would be "visitor", although the closer that is a ballad-type cover of sterling void's house classic "it's alright" is also brilliant. "visitor" has a complete different style from the dancefloor-type cuts being that it glance more to belgium and the sort of grayarea between body and acid house/techno.

the vocal changes between a sung vocal and more chanted/spoken one with a darker feel. i think they have drawn influence from phuture's "rise from your grave" or "your only friend" even though the message in this song is much different. it's telling you to dance, enjoy yourself and lose it to the music and that's a good statement for a club track even though it's not the most original one. it will help with that bassline and the hypnotic motions of the music and i'm always up for a strong groove.

basically if i may quote the song: "it's time to bump".

buy here (junodownload)

vincenzo - where's the love that i knew

on ian pooley's outing on nrk sound division's nite:life series i heard the vincenzo remix of rivera rotation's "latinica witch". this was a few years after past the release of the mix and it was a track that i loved. not really the standout track on the mix as it follows needs' "brother" which iss something more bumping and earcatching. even more so to the track that it goes into, which is the new phunk theory remix of yann fontaine's "open your eyes", that is heartbreakingly beautiful.

none the less this was something that i loved because i was quite into vincenzo's tracks at the time, i had dipped my toes into the discography and i liked what i was hearing. songs like "we wait right here", "at throb", "the way of thinking" and "peace is not the word to play". i had yet not heard "where's the love that i knew" but then when i was given a heads up on that there was a sense of this is that song you have been missing for all of your life.

it's music that moves you and i know it's heralded as one of vincenzo's best productions and for a good reason. the lowkey feel in the beginning is imprinted with some subtle drums and percussion. some fuzzy rhodes notes come after you hear the small vocal part that works well in the atmosphere. there is some haze in the background that eventually opens up as the track progresses but in it's filtered state it's more of a pad.

vincenzo does a lot with something that i can with my ears tell apart being more or less just a sampled soul groove, some drum sounds and grooves, some rhodes and that vocal. the buildup holds the right amount of suspense and the dynamics in the soundscape make all the difference.

buy here (junodownload)

minimalistix - close cover (filterheadz remix 2)

"close cover" was a track i heard in '02 at around the time of it's release and then the version most important to me and most dj's i was following was the svenson & gielen remix. i bought the cd-single quickly thereafter as the nordic division ministry of sound issued it along with few of the remixes but not the original version, not that it matters but that always irritated me. that practice sometimes happend where you would get edited version of the vocal mixes and full instrumental version as in the case of hamasaki ayumi's "connected" on drizzly.

much like previous singles "struggle for pleasure" and "a forest", there were a lot of remixes ordered up but in this case there was a few more than the usual as it became a bigger hit. even though the single i have is on ministry of sound's nordic offshoot, most of the versions came from the original releases on mostiko/sphear. it included as mentioned prior a remix by svenson & gielen but also a decent outing from 4 strings and but two mediocre ones from bossanova (decoy, nord & bonka) and dj bonka & dj gert's own version. last not but least there was one by belgian progressive and techno act the filterheadz which are brothers bert & maarten wilmaers.

i wasn't up on the filterheadz remix practices of the minimalistix tunes when i heard this remix i didn't hear wim maerten's piano melody from the piece of the same name. someone later informed me on how minimalistix's outings at the time was mostly remakes of several pieces and songs and the filterheadz versions were very loosely based on the them.

this all started from "struggling for pleasure" that was a remake of the soft verdict (aka wim mertens) piece from 1983. it should be noted that cosmic baby & dj kid paul also borrowed it for "café del mar" which they made as energy 52, but they changed the melody and chords slightly. filterheadz kept a few sounds in their remix but in general it was much more deeper and groove-based. the tempo was taken down a smidge from the 138 bpm territories and the melody was changed heavily.

with the following single that was a remake of the cure's "a forest", the filterheadz used the same method but also renamed the track "into the trees" (which is a line from the song). this is why the remix for "struggle for pleasure" is also listed as "struggle for leisure". the single that was released after "close cover" was based on angelo badalementi's theme from the tv-show "twin peaks" called "falling", for filterheadz remix it was dubbed "firewalkers".

for the track at hand this track is called "close but undercover" which arguably isn't a great pun. the wilmaers brothers decided to do two versions for this one and my single includes the second one. they have on some releases the names "belgian sprouts mix" and "belgian waffles mix" respectivly but my single just lists the track with no alternative titles or puns and the likes.

they are in the same idea as prior remixes and both versions share the same sounds but the first one is much more light and melodic and is the counterpart to the second version which a bit darker and focuses more on the groove. if you work it correctly it's a great tool at hand for builds as it's driving and has a great rhythm but it should be noted that it does have a large breakdown. on the second mix however it does the have the tribal drum loop present throughout even though the top has been rolled off. perfect for longer transitions i say.


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way out west - the fall (bedrock instrumental)

this is something that i heard first on john digweed's third global underground outing, where he plays a special version of the main remix with a longer break. in context to that mix that worked since it carried on the "dark feel" from the james holden remix of ronald klinkenberg's "inner laugh". i have some reservation about thtat compilation in general and for most it was a divider and i am in the camp of where i like the tunes and effort but weren't amazed by it.

since then i put in the back of my mind as i liked it but not in that state and i was more interesting in it's driving no-sense parts and that didn't include the break. if i had heard that particular version now i would have just taken it into an audio editor and done my tweak and problem would have been solved. none the less it did fell into my mind until a few years later and the song came into my head again due to discussion about the song that way out west sampled for the "the fall".

prior to that i really didn't listen to any sets where the bedrock remix of "the fall" was played as the original was far more popular. i also would have played other tunes than that as it also somewhat sounds like a few other bedrock productions. but when i heard it with fresh ears it was a moment of epiphany as i noticed it's brilliance. proper driving dark-ish trance that would have fit the later buildup section of my sets.

the version i heard first was the main vocal remix and i saw a little problem with it as i didn't think those sections fit. wisternoff & warrens original was mostly built around janis alexander's vocal but it had a few sections that went outside the chordprogression of "autumn leaves". nick muir & john digweed built their remix around them and sort of worked in key phrases of the vocal into their production.

her vocal is somewhat present though as a processed loop runs throughout the track along with a few choice harmonies and such but not more than that. hence i saw no point in playing that version really and i was going through a small phase at the time where i was trying to reduce as much vocal tracks in my sets. it was more about the groove and hypnotic sounds and feels and all that jazz.

buy here (beatport)

to be honest they are the same and you can purchase the main vocal mix so i will link to that but i'm more likely to play the instrumental

joujouka - are you elovetric? (thomas p. heckmann remix)

this one i heard after i checked out a starecase remix a few years ago as i was going through their remixes at the time and in this case joujouka had done a remake of "relax" by frankie goes to hollywood. it was nice but i didn't see any point of playing it when i could be playing their remix of dj remy's "serious damage" which was the same thing but better. with regards to this remix it was a case of liking it's driving buzzing feel and it's fitting into the sets i was playing.

i really thought that heckmann had brought the new wave influence from his own brand of driving techno but that stemmed from joujouka's original set of tracks. i know this project as a psytrance project but much like say eat static i know that they change guidelines from one release to another. this has probably to do with tsuyoshi suzuki's willing to work in anything in his sets.

at the time when the album "are you elovetric?" was released in '03 suzuki had gone deep into his own personal influences which was synth, body and new wave music from the eighties. there is actually a quite a strong link between this kind of music and goa trance or trance in general if you research where goa trance stems from.

"are you elovetric?" is a song in the traditional or mainstream sense of the word with the verse/chorus/verse structure, guitars and all that jazz. guitars has always been a part of joujoukas sound but in the first record they were used like in the context of psytrance. heckmann strips away these elements and keeps the chords, the buzzing basslines and some of the melodies.

it's refitted with a four on the floor kickdrum and the 16th note bassline is even more pulsating and buzzes away with great force. straightforward drumprogramming is also on the agenda as various tr-909 hats and rides are brought on in usual driving techno manners. the spiralling but short melody that appears in the background is of the original more of a central element as the track goes into it's middle part. heckmann also uses effects for the fills instead of drum hits and as i've played this in plenty of sets, i've enjoyed these in context of mixing. basically proper banging techno music.

buy here (junodownload)

skream - dubbers anonymous

right around the time i was mentioning dub in every sentence and setting, on line that is, my friend jan henrik mentioned this tune to me. i had still not gotten into dubstep but jan henrik and one other guy was quickly on that and he played the tune one time in a mix and i thought it was quite nice. eventually i understood the dynamics and the structures of dubstep and how they used half-time and double-time respectivly and that it was all about the bass.

part of the fun of this track is those hardhitting snares and the heavy use on delays on the various samples. for most of those stabs except for the ghastly ones it's classic hiphop fragments. there is also a likelihood that the vocal bits are also stemmed from old hiphop but have been pitchbent and effected. "dubbers anonymous" starts like "midnight request line" with a vocal but here it's oliver jones aka skream himself that is on display. he uses the introduction from a.a. or n.a. but the twist of that he's a dubaholic.

then it launches into a fast driving rhythm with the lfo knob turned right to an eleven on the bass patches, which of course produces that wobbling effect. as he layers basslines on top each others it is interesting with the sub being the slow bass boom and a lurking fast one on top setting the pace. the third or fourth is on top of them and reacts accordingly to the kick and snares.

lucious lower frequency assualts in a timespan of four minutes and something really quick to the point. love it. bit of a shame that it wasn't available on more than the vinyl issue of "skream!" but then again it also is sort of "midnight request line" meets "lightning".

listen here (youtube)

cevin snitzer vs. humate - reload

another record that i heard in a set and it was in the end phases of a quite groovy techno mix by someone i can't remember. i only really knew who humate was and i was still connecting him to more trancier and proggier tracks but i have generally liked most of his productions. cevin snitzer was not a name i heard of but i found out he and humate/gerret frischs had collaborated prior on that "oh my darling, i love you" track. something also that i'd heard but didn't know it's name but it's quite memorable with it's punk-funk feel, raw drums, bangalter-esque bassline and acid.

when i was researching the catalogue of sören schnakenberg aka cevin snitzer, as i was planning to write about "reload", i also found out that he was also responsible for a number of other tracks. the one that caught my eye was that awful hardhouse cover of beastie boys' "fight for your right to party" which he recorded as "n.y.c.c.". but it should be noted that he also has a discography that starts in the early 90's much like humate with some quality records, some that hold up fairly well and some which are downright bollocks.

never the less i don't want to go in further into any of their discographies as this tune has nothing to do with those. i do somewhat recognise who did what in terms of elements and structure as loud compressed drums sound like schnackenberg and the synths and bassline are more like humate's work. initially this track stars as groovy techno as i mentioned earlier with a heavy emphasis on the very round bassline and percussion. as the track about to go into a drop there is a sample of some people swimming or just being around a pool.

here it launches into these stabbing detuned synths with heavy reverb that are in line with the bassline and it takes the track over most of this section. this part is what surprised me with "reload" when i first heard in that set. i think the mix was going to go further on pushing but as it goes back into and there is a sense of winding down it worked really well. it also helped with quickly mixing out of it the tune as it does go into the synths again but it's more playful and teasing in this part.

in between them yet again that vocal sample or field recording was played again and i don't know why they played that part but as it's somewhat creepy but it's also brilliant. it brings another layer and a somewhat atmospheric touch to the tune.

buy here (junodownload)

2 inda bush - nutty drumstick (matt cantor remix)

when i first heard this track it was through a set and through a mistake in the tracklisting i thought it was a remix of soul of man's "love and hate". after trawling the intarwebs after this particular banger i had my suspicion that it was a mislabel after hearing the original and the only remix available, done by rennie pilgrem. i wasn't familiar with the original of "nutty drumstick", which is also by soul of man but done as their lesser used moniker 2 inda bush. the ragga vocal sample was something i knew of prior but it's been on countless other records so i brushed it off as a clue.

after sampling the rennie pilgrem remix on juno i heard that it was the freestylers' matt cantor's remix of "nutty drumstick". when listening to it in context to the original it's really only the vocal sample that's been used and in this case it's matt cantor making a remix of the source material rather than the tune at hand. panufnik & rushmore took the sample from kicksquad's hardcore classic "soundclash", which itself was constructed with samples.

mainly the "scorpio" break, the amen break, stabs of the 808 states "cübik" lead, a chant from depeche mode's "shake the disease" and a sligthly slowed down vocal bit from super beagle's "dust a sound boy". the vocal intro which also houses the source for kanye west's posse cut "mercy" and brother ali's "champion" and as mentioned a few more tracks.

for his remix of "nutty drumstick" kicks it off with a one-drop groove and plays the vocal sample on a repeated basis as the drums are being brought on. after a small drop the cantor throws in the bassline from "soundclash" and later on he also uses the bleepy leadline. the bassline is however the main hook of the song as it drives the song and does a brilliant job at it. as frankie bones would say "bangin".

buy here (beatport)

discovery - missing (mac zimms dub)

file this one under the concept of a revision remix where a few or no elements have been used as it's trying to capture the market of someone else. usually it's with less than credible acts or songs that are cheesy in the ears of the producer at hand. i don't know what the case was with this one but it all stems from a version of everything but the girl's "missing" done by errol lafleur, mark nieuwenhuijzen and rené van oosterwijk.

the former two are also more known as donald & girls or symphony of strings but have done a few tracks together with van oosterwijk under different monikers.the original is something decent but has it's flaws and the most obvious one being a really bland and anonymous vocal, delivered by anoushka wink. the second one being structure and a breakdown being too long but with some re-editing the instrumental of the original club mix would be perfect epic trance material.

never the less the song was given remix treatment on both it's original release on liquid and when it was licensed off to nebula. on the former it as mentioned by mac zimms and by aqualoop's rocco which does a terrible remix and feuershake which does a decent version. zimms' main version takes one element from the original and that's the vocal and even then it's somewhat lowkey. what it's replaced with is a swinging filterfunk houser cut with some nice trumpets and sunshine strings.

i understand that it's also lazy as zimms could have easily done like john "00" fleming where he took the few good elements and did a heavy duty reshape. but it all boils down to taste and for me it's a track that i really like and in that respect, the principle of "why is this even called a remix" is gone outside the window. i will certainly criticise and point out this fact for many other tracks if they done a terrible track and were obviously just out for the cash-grab that remixing could be about in the days of yore.

buy here (junodownload)

also if i didn't make that clear as i'm not going to make a post about the john "00" fleming remix but that one is well recommended as well. reason why i'm not writing about that is because that was the unique selling point for nebula's licensing. a really dark, brooding and somewhat techy progressive trancer that sounds killer pitched up quite a bit. it also gives a vague but small nod to solar stone's "seven cities" in the breakdown before it launches right into that driving beat and even the vocal makes sense in this one.

total science - just kisses

"just kisses" comes from one of my favourite total science releases which also houses the brilliant a-side "sweet potato". it's from the period in time where they dabbed into mid-tempo material compared to their usual drum & bass, which in this case means broken beat and housier material. it was a side of greenhaigh & smith that i didn't know existed until someone pointed out that it wasn't a new occurance.

back in '97 they produced a very off-kilter broken beat version of aquasky's "opaque" and it would probably in the same timeframe as when the new broken beat or future jazz movement kicked around with ig culture, 4hero and domu being at the forefront. never the less it was probably a sharing of ideas as you can easily trace the beginning from the jazz fusion movement in the seventies. in most respects it was jungle at a lower tempo but with deeper house and funk driven roots and a smidge of techno and hiphop.

with this track it's a shuffle with a very round bass and garage like chords and stab repetitions. there is so much going on up and down below as the bass booms really well that the drums are drowned through most of the track. that is a big exaggeration as i do hear the groove and the contrarhythms at the busiest parts of the track, but the drums isn't the complete focus like in "sweet potato".

great track though and definitely to dig out when playing that uk funky and future garage as it would fit like a glove in the midst of all that.

listen here (youtube)

miranda - gnocchi

my first experience of miranda's music was through antiloop's remix of "mars needs women" which was a big radio and club hit. fact was it sounded nothing like the original which itself was a loose rendition of doofs track of the same name from 1995. someone was also quick to point out that most of mirands music sounded different from "mars needs women" and that "northern lights" album was her first bridging out the more conventional trance that was brewing in sweden from the likes of earthbound and richi m.

fortunally i was given the chance of listening to her first and second album and i was enchanted with "steps to the stars", "le passage", "labyrinth and "disco". i was actually torn between writing about "steps to the stars" and "gnocchi" as they are my favourites from her but in the end i picked the latter as i've stated many times that it's one of my favourite trancers of all time. when i first heard it in was in remix form on the northen lights album and i liked that version as well but the more stripped down original has a better feel.

what it loses with all of the additional effects and melodies and acid twisting is the groove and the straightforward feel of the original. really good psychedelic trance, or just trance in general is trippy and hypnotic and while the remix is trippy, it's not really hypnotic. as soon as this kicks off there is a small build for djs with establishing the groove but as soon that is out of it's way the bassline adds another layer that goes futher that a offbeat stomp.

the spiraling melodies and elements keep do their part in the first half before it fades down for the acidline to appear. it gets it's moment where it squelches and it builds for another peak and drop where it further onto unleashing all of the elements and where they harmonise in the rhythm and sound. in the end you have experience a quite a track with all of the best qualities in trance music.

listen here (youtube)

funk d'void - way up high (kowalski dub)

with this one i discovered it through a set and it was a case of loving that warm thick wave of pads and melodies and latent percussion all under a round bassline that did the trick. it is also a track that i heard a lower tempo and think that it should have been made at say 126bpm rather than the 132bpm it chugs along on. i understand that it is maybe meant for those housier moments in techno sets, especially at a faster tempo than that but my ears says elsewise.

the genius with alexander kowalski's dub of way up high is that the refitting that he did since the original was good but flawed in many respects. the most obvious one being the lethargic vocal from nåid that didn't work with all that funk but it also includes the small annoying sweeps and the levels and mixdown isn't perfect. kowalski takes care of that and emphasises the groove and the melodic elements and it all turns out quite heavy and bumping.

perfect example of how remixing can save a flawed track and teaching the original producer their mistakes so to speak. or something less condesending than that but i should also recommend vector lovers' rendition which goes for a new wave-route and works the vocal really well into the mix. they ran it through a vocoder along with a few other sounds and the tone originally fitted with the frantic synths and icey strings.

buy here (soma webshop)

sophie rimheden - in your mind (hundarna från söder remix)

for this one i had heard of sophie rimheden and her music because of showcasing and interview on national radio but "in your mind" wasn't one of the songs. there was a possibility that "lovin'" as amongst the tracks being played as it was around '03-'04 and i thought the music was interesting. it was sort of twisted electroclash with good use of distortion and i liked how she manipulated her own voice. it did remind of peaches, miss kittin and the hacker and chicks on speed, even if it wasn't a lot that i had heard from them at the time.

when i visited her website a while later after that i had seen hundarna från söders remix of "in your mind" and that was also a name that i had heard of in a similar situation. but i can honestly say that i wasn't that fond of their music because it was a little too bleep and bloop for me. for their take on the song it isn't any case of that but deep atmospheric electro. they stripped down the song from all of it's glorious chaos to just the rhythm, the mood and a fragment of her vocal.

after some small feedback and some transients you hear a tr-808 and some lowkey synth trawling along and eventually after the introduction of the sombre lo-fi pad the bassline is brought on. all of the elements have been treated to keep that murmuring or dark vibe so it gives out a nice nightly feel. it's very spacious and atmospheric but still rhytmic enough so it's workable in sets. proper.

buy here (klicktrack)

ralph myerz & the jack herren band - think twice (swag vocal mix)

news was cabled out that donald byrd passed away on february the 4th and on social media various musicenthusiasts have been expressing their sympathies and the love for the music of byrd. for me it was a case of that i hadn't really gotten around to listen to his full discography and i'm mostly familiar with the repetoire from the seventies. that has to do with that i know his work through the fact that this period has been the subject of sampling by hiphop and house producers/acts.

for instance "think twice", which is one of donald byrd's crossover records, houses the source material for two hiphop-classics that i enjoy and a gorgeous house-track. they are a tribe called quest's "footprints", main source's "looking at the front door" and armand van helden's "flowerz". the norweigans that are the ralph myerz & the jack herren band did a version of the song in '03 that is nice and in most places it's stated as a cover but i would just call it a version. it focused more on the groove and used the bassline, the chorus and some of the keyboards.

it became the lead single for the band's debut album titled "a special album" and became remixed by the likes of attaboy, the juan maclean and swag. attaboy kicked up the tempo a bit and turned up the funky a smidge, the juan maclean went for a synthy robotic themed kraftwerk meets george clinton meets silicon scally type of version. swag's version is the one i like the most and it's hones more to donald byrd's original than ralph myerz' rendition.

sure the focus is still on the bassline and the groove but it's more of how swag would have done if they chopped up and looped the original and included the trumpet hook. it kind of sits on that fence between deep and funky that you would hear from miguel migs during the naked music era. i was deeply into this sound at the time and i think i banged swag's remix out in plenty of sets and still like to pop it on.

mark farina - cali spaces (people under the stairs remix)

this was right around i had gotten back into deeper house and i had heard kaskade's remix, not that this is by any stretch "deeper house", as i was enchanted with om records and the house sound coming out of san francisco. i don't remember liking it that much really and with these ears right now i don't think anything of it at all, kaskade has done better stuff and i will probably delve into that some other time.

"cali spaces" was sort of the lead single from the fifth instalment of farina's mushroom jazz mixcd. a series that he grew fame for and a big liking and i have heard a number of them but don't think it's any special from what was coming out of the acid jazz movement in the uk. he was however right at the forefront of meshing it with the deeper house influences and that shone through in the beginning but that has receded for more straight up alternative hiphop beats.

basically in it's original state "cali spaces" sounds like a slowed down laidback disco groove but a bit more grimier than that along with some choice hiphop samples. his own house mix sounded like a uptempo version of that along, so basically a discogroove with tr-909 programming signed shep pettibone complete with choppy snarerolls. it sounds like he lifted the groove from indeep's "last night a dj saved my life" but with a twist.

the two versions that are most worth mentioning is julius papp's bumping groove that sounds like what mark farina should have done in the first place and people under the stairs remix. the first time i heard their remix i only heard the a part of the beginning as the sample was only placed in that section. later on i noticed the full extent for the remix and how it actually changes the groove and this became more interesting.

thes one and double k also treat some of the samples more in tuned to the grooves that they worked together. for the first half where the they kept the original tempo, the samples is much more hazy and laidback. when the track switches tempo after a break punctuated with these horns that become a part of the groove eventually, it all becomes much more defined.

the groove is heavier and the bass seems too boom when it punches in and it sounds like they kicked up the tempo. it isn't completely the case as it's a few bpm's slower but the hi-hats are in double time along with nice grungy rides that works with the horns. i like this for a homelistening kind of thing but i also see the potential for dj use with the tempo switch if they intend to beatmix all the way through.

stunning piece of music and seeing as it was the last thing they did for om records, it was a nice parting gift.


buy here (junodownload)

subtech - city lights

subtech was on many levels the sister project to circulation, mostly because matt jackson was a part of both but they also operated on the same idea. release a record every two to three months with different songs on both sides and then do some remixes every once a while. they also both folded as projects back in '05 and i should note that there is a current project called subtech operating but is not matt jackson & matt dunning but i take it that they aren't going to bring it back or take action.

the main difference between circulation and subtech was that while the sounds still was in that housier area, subtech leaned more on the progressive side and there was extensive use of reverbs. "city lights" was something i heard in a set and loved the groove and the pad in the breakdown. right from the start of the track there is a reverbed bassline that carries the track throughout and elements are tacked on starting with the drums and percussion and they are drenched.

you get a sense of the scope of affect when the only element that isn't treated with this amount is the second drumloop that come in after two minutes and cuts through the trail. like with most of subtech's output the emphasis isn't on melody but groove and hooks are usually a filtered sample or the bassline. it's a rather heavy groove and quite addictive and it's definitely something throwback progressive house or trance set with all those spacious james holden-esque records.

listen here (youtube)

ladytron - destroy everything you touch (hot chip remix)

i knew of "destroy everything you touch" far before hearing hot chip's remix and i think it was through a perfume ad. when i heard of hot chip's remix it was after being wowed with "over and over" and "boy from school" etc but mostly with their remix of amy winehouse's "rehab". with that remix hot chip became discobelle and the blog mafia's ultimate darling along with the dfa.

somehow i had been led to believe that hot chip's remix came along with the re-release of the song in 2007 but i became a fan of it after hearing that beginning. reason because i mention the dfa was that it reminded me of their remixes as they often used live instrumentation throughout the remix. so for this one you heard the start with a musicbox like sound in the beginning along with some guitar strums.

after a while mira aroyo's secondary vocal come in processed with reverb to the effect that it was whispered to ones ear. as soon as the vocal makes it's first entrance so does the kick and bassline and eventually some of the percussion and synths sweeps. the electric guitars that come in have also been treated with room reverb it gives off a nice vibe in the spectrum. i think the influences for this remix comes from the dfa and kevin shields as the remix is sort of dance-rock meets shoegaze.

groovy stuff with a touch of ambience.


buy here (junodownload)

chemise - she can't love you

in 2005 i heard a song on radio and television by swedish house act spånka nkpg with singer marit bergman, i was already quite a fan of the them both but more of the prior. i really didn't like the on-off single "do you wanna ride?" that they did with equestrian malin baryard but "she can't love you" was buzzing and i held it as one of my favourite songs of that year. the song became a mainstay in several of my sets long after it was released and i still pop it on every once a while.

a few years after that i was visiting the beat electric blog and they put up chemise's original but i didn't know of it but i saw the title and wondered if there was a link. sure enough i recognized those keys, bassline and the lyrics and my mind was blown and i wanted to hunt down chemise's original. noted that this project was a collaboration between the spouses ricki byers muldrow and ronald muldrow, parents of georgia ann muldrow.

there is that lovely eighties boogie vibe imprinted with most of the elements synthesised. gritty sounds that floats in and out all over a groove consisting of programmed linn drums and a buzzing synth bass. of course this song wouldn't be without the amazing vocal that rickie byers muldrow, from the beginning with the conversational bits to the break where she ad-libs in the all variations of the hook.

listen here (youtube)

omni trio - sanctuary (ken ishii remix)

as mentioned prior i love it when producers step out of their comfort-zone and make a track outside of their normal field of music. it isn't completely with this track as it's a melodic broken beat rerub by mr. ishii of a jungle track by omni trio but ishii isn't astranged of hearing his tracks turned into drum and bass. especially during the time he was signed to r&s when "legendary" labelowner/asshole renaat vandepapeliere was getting into drum and bass.

"sanctuary" in it's original state is a crisp example of omni trio's stunning and moody but melodic drum & bass that still had that kick and drive. the selling point for the track is those gorgeous strings and the warm vibraphone-sounding patch. ishii used all of the elements at hand for his rendition but of course in a lower tempo. the most striking factor about the remix is however that the bass is heavier as omni trio's is a more deep and subby element.

for his remix he broadens the spectrum as the drums classic midrangy sampled drumbreaks and the bassline is audible in the lower midrange as well. there is also more melodic content and ken ishii expands on the chordprogression of the original and brings in another synthpatch that somewhat arpeggiates and the conclusion of the song eventually becomes an interesting element. also that alarmclock soundeffect is used to great effect.

basically this is proper punchy warm melodic techno in a broken beat suit signed ken ishii.

buy here (beatport)

lfo - butterslut

of course "freak" whom which "butterslut" is the b-side to was the club hit and the big return of lfo for production, i would have to think because it was the heir to anthem that is "lfo (leeds warehouse mix)". i loved "freak" and it's combination of really banging music, distortion and creepy vibes. "butterslut" is something that i heard a while after "freak" and i would like to think that it's also because of what attracted me to the a-side but the title is also quite nifty in a stupid way.

the modus operandi is a hard beat and a riff that has a portmanteau that is a bit off which changes sound every sixteenth bar. elements and drumloops also come in and out with the switching of the lead sound and this brings a nice unsuspecting vibe. the breakdown of the track changes the riff and percussion into something that would be referred to as detroit and when it storms back into distortion the switch really does the trick.

for me this is oe of the tracks i used to play when i wanted to some "crazy music" during the white noise and sidechain era of house and club music. some of the other tracks were and the likes of the hypnotist's "death of dub", luke slater's filtered mix of madonna's "the power of good-bye", daft punk's "rollin' and scratchin'" along with others. in fact the most used combination was the latter of the three and this where i'd also work in  mu's "paris hilton" in between.

all and all a really fun piece of techno with flips that brings possibilities to change directions in set if also worked with a loop function.

buy here (junodownload)

kristine w - land of the living (dekkard's planet vocal mix)

seems like i am in that mood today where i'm playing one massive vocal tune after another. i've already listened to the atfc remix of moby's "in this world", the thunderpuss remix of whitney's "it's not right", robert owens' "i'll be your friend" and the jonathan peters club mix of hamasaki ayumi's "kanariya" and i'll tack on this as well. a big tune for the british progressive house and trance dj's at the time i was properly introduced to it through a friend who was into this epic house sound.

dekkard's version builds up in anthemic state with a big intro and this sparkling patch is joined by a gated patch and eventually a driving bassline. the sense of that something dramatic is about to happen is just around the bend but it paces itself until it drops and lets kristine w belt it out along with those synths, some accompanying sweeps and a fierce broad piano. this segment is quite effectful but it really shuts down for that part and it does go up and down while it's actually driving. point is that placing this in sets requires being careful or using the dub or just parts as even i wouldn't play the whole 12minutes of it.

amazing piece of music though and it is the highlight in a package of remixes that also include rollo's club mix that he does with his bandmate sister bliss, junior vasquez, deep dish, lisa marie experience and the maddlands. most of them are good to decent except the high profiled deep dish remixes which doesn't tickle my fancy at all. same goes for maddlands dub which is just horribly dated crap. there was also some new remixes made in '11 by kevin saunderson and timothy allen that is decent but i also do know that it's also isn't the last time that "land of the living" will be revisited as champion records are experts of churning out countless versions of "feel that you want" every two years or so.

buy here (bandcamp)

love to infinity - pray for love (classic paradise mix)

"pray for love" was definitely amongst the first records that i bought and i didn't know of the track or the fact that love to infinity actually produced own singles. same went for thunderpuss or hex hector & mac quayle and other acts that i knew more for being more prolific in remixing than their own releases. it came with two mixes by love to infinity and two more versions by david morales, which i believe was why i became interested in the single as i've always been quite sucker for his remixes.

the name of the game for this single is sing it from the rafters gospel-influenced garage house with organs and the whole nine yards. love to infinity's second mix called the episode iv mix is far more progressive, tribal and dubbier and goes into what the american gay community calls circuit. that goes for morales' remixes as well and while i enjoyed his remixes, he changed the organ for a piano and this is why i chose to highlight the original classic paradise version instead. all jokes aside though, the tribal break in morales' main club mix is amazing though and is peaktime material like no other.

right from the start you have an understanding what is going to happen as beefy drums and the loud percussion that rattles forcefully through. there is hints of background vocals that build up the steam and in the first drop you hear the pipes of louise bailey along with melanie williams & dawn zee. along with the showcasing of the vocal there is another set of pipes chiming in, being those organs as i mentioned. together with a heavy rhythmical bass line, the track is packed with content enough to want to be that vocal garage anthem.

with something like this track you have to work it in the right moment in a modern context where the preferences go for the less vocal in those clubs that unfortunately dictates what matters. i don't know if the hed kandi massive maybe ruined the idea of the vocal anthems but stemming from the nostalgics of the 90's gay scene there was one big tune after the other where divas would belt it out. that could also be bullshit but i think it's refreshing with something as stupidly uplifting and hopeful as this, especially as i'm looking out and the weather is below zero and winter is still latching onto it's final days.

listen here (youtube)

breakbeat era - late morning

long after 4hero, goldie (and associates), ltj bukem/good looking records, roni size eventually figured out that you could sell a truckload of records if you just confine a bit to the rules of mainstream music. the steps is talking about how intelligent this music is and try to use the word "jazz" in association of it but also get hold of a singer from maybe an r&b background or the likes. roni size and his full cycle crew did this twice as the first time was roni size/reprazent and it worked phenomenally.

the second time around was less jazz-inflicted but more proper sung vocal as prior collaborist leonie laws became a stature in the full cycle crew for a while. breakbeat era as a project stems from a track with the same name that roni size & dj die recorded as scorpio for one of the full cycle compilations. as roni size / reprazent had run it's course the first time around i think size was interested in taking into a full album project.

i remember the first time i came across the breakbeat era project because size, die and laws was doing some promotion for it on swedish ztv. they were talking about how some recordstores really didn't know where to categorise their album or something like that. then i heard "ultra-obscene" or "bullitproof" but i wasn't into it at all and i would have to wait until picking up a compilation and hearing the former. this time i did get it and something had to do with me liking kosheen's first album and they are relevant in this situation as they took the formula for breakbeat era and ran with it and did much better in sales i believe. i put them both on the same level but i prefer sian evans voice much more than leonie laws.

none the less this track is one of the instrumentals of the album but features a guest perfomer with adrian utley of portishead on guitar. his strums open the track and it sounds like it's been recorded outside of a studio environment and sets the mood as the hiss and atmosphere is resonating throughout the track. after a couple looped runs the track kicks off in full force with a mauling deep bassline and gentle guitar parts, pads and a heavy two-step drum that is very dj die.

when the guitar licks again the drums change into a run of some krusty "funky mule" that appears again along with the rest of the track. i don't think it works completely with the regular drumbreak as the patterns clash and it's a state of dissonace in a wrong way. producers often employ conflicting elements, wether it's musical or rhythmical for tensionbuilding effect and it's what size & die was going for but i think they didn't pull it off completely.

i do like this track alot though and the whole album for that matter. well recommended

buy here (junodownload)

j.c.a. - i begin to wonder (mathias schaffhäuser remix)

when i bought this single i knew of "i begin to wonder" and liked it in a general state, i had a hunch on it's evolution where it's nowadays more associated with dannii minogue. i remember seeing the video for the original on ztv prior to hearing dannii minogue's extended revocal and i prefer dannii's version both in terms of production & lyrics. basically "i begin to wonder" is a new wave flirt and the fact minogue's version was mashed up with dead or alive's "you spin me round (like a record)" just proved it more as they use the same chords.

this doesn't matter really with mathias schaffhäuser's rerub as the only thing he kept was the vocal and the bassline and even then both have been recontextualised. the end result is a deeper house track that borders on the more mellow techno cuts on his own label ware. it is definantly something for the early evenings or really late nights as you get a groove consisting of just a secure kick, a rhythmic bass that doesn't go above the lower midrange and a sizzling hi-hat that also doubles as a fill.

as far as the vocal schaffhäuser uses the second and third run of the vocal where dacia bridges sings in a lower tempo. coupled together with the spoken part from the bridge of the original it makes an impact when they play, because of the nature of the track. not counting the pads that work as both dissonance and harmony, the only other element that is introduced is this fizzing sound that comes in halfway through.

it's all very sparse but this version interested me more than the rendition that i heard prior to picking up the single. the modus operandi would bug on many other occasions as it's basically a stripped down take on something that is maximised. when it all clicks together it is magic though, but it's also something that i would never play on it's own for longer than two minutes in a set as it begs for mashing.

buy here (itunes)

m.i.k.e. - deepest jungle

here's another case of don't remebering where i first heard this but chances are either in a set by jan henrik or the likes or maybe even on tenaglia's first global underground mix. it certainly was my introduction to mike dierickx's techier tracks as i knew his tracks mostly for more melodic material. things like "strange world", "legacy", "sunrise at palamos" and whatnot.

the most striking thing about the track other than it's mostly just drums for 6minutes (not counting smaller breaks) is the sample in the intro. some people mix the track right from the top and work it in but i usually start right after it. i have tried to look for the source of it but it sounds like some random b or c-movie or some really bad television, i'm saying that because of corny acting being heard.

after it kicks in starts the progression from heavy amount of drums into well, heavier amounts of drums. it does have two drops, both of which that serve it's purpose as they really work within the tension and release system with this kind of techno. the bottom end hits hard despite that there isn't an actual bassline but that stems from the conundrum with bass & heavy drums. most producers let some percussion hits be the bassline in replace as toms, taikos and the likes have a singing tone. that goes for bongos/congas as well but they are higher in the spectrum.

so basically, this track is all tribal drums and it's amazing.

buy here (junodownload)

dub pistols - world gone crazy (mj cole mix re-rubb)

when i first heard this i was on a mj cole remix kick and i didn't know "world gone crazy" but i loved the remix. as i heard the original a little while after i did like it alot with it's nice lazy reggae groove and horace andy on a lower tempo. the riddim itself is spun of scientist's production for sammy dread's "follow fashion".  mj cole didn't really do anything drastic but a slight regroove on double the tempo of the original but it works immensly.

the dub pistols' do it themselves on as a specific radio version but they sort of fail as the groove doesn't completely work. the funny thing is that their special dance mix done as dogtown clash is proper though and i wonder why they even did that radio mix. most of the versions of the song actually put the reggae elements in focus in one way or another except west london deep whose acidy progressive house number just uses the vocals.

one of the elements that make mj cole's remix stand out the most is that his bassline & subbass is the heaviest and i think you maybe can fit this with some dubstep. his other strong point has always been the drums as burial points out in the first known interview with that anorak. even though they are a bit hidden in the mix for this as the bass and vocals take most of the space but they are really punchy.

buy here (junodownload)