Six Sounds of Early Summer

Oh my days, the library is so necessarily oppressive. I don't know whether its the musty smelling tomes or the sad people's faces lining walls of same such similar desks, but it really really aches in here. What's worse, its been sunny outside all week - not ideal when you have a stack of work to do and summer is beaming down outside. This post comprises of the tunes which have got me through the last week, it's a lot more brief than the last posts - purely because I can't justify spending hours writing a blog post when Ben Jonson's Volpone is staring me in the face. I understand the inherent irony centring around blogging when I should be writing on a heavily satirical play. It seems I have become, like the devicical (sp) characters of Jonson's verse, a fool. My wit declines. 

Anyway, enough of this gurgled literary jargon - here are the tunes which work well, with some slight justification.

1. Every Little Earthquake - Little Boots (Gold Panda Remix)

Beautiful, upbeat, and entrenched in wonderful harmony. 

2. Counterpoint (The Chain Remix) - Delphic & The Chain

Rolling beats nod a head till the vocals break through nice ice.

3. Rawk This Party - Teh Interweb Kidz

Club Banger from Californian Based duo.

4. Supply & Demand (D.I.M. Dub) - Fischerspooner

Subtly done remix from the hot-right-now D.I.M

5. Divebomb (Mumdance's Carnival Remix) - The Whip

Soundsystem smashing Brighton beach ethic. Mumdance brings party to the people. 

6. Stuck On Repeat (Mr Vega Remix) - Little Boots

Catchy tune, catchy remix. More understated than FB's - built to warm your core. 

Round, Round, Round We Go

Hey, my last post seemingly dissapeared - but because the internet went off I saved it on wordpad... so here it is again without the pictures...

Sometimes music seems to be made for blogging. Things just, fall into place. This post is all about the industry - the music i'm posting is largely cyclical, and somewhat coincidental. Anyway enough of this lingering prose: on with the goods. 

First up are two songs centering around the next big night I'll be attending. Wax:On is possibly the most well known Electro promotions company outside London. Continually defining the genre with huge line-ups, they have championed pretty much every good DJ you'd care to name. Quite frankly if you haven't heard of their club nights, you haven't been paying attention and should go back to school. Anyway, the line-up for Wax:On at Digital Newcastle on the 1st May is huge. The inimitable Fake Blood is headlining, and I'm already shaking at the prospect. TC Monckton claims the foot of the bill, whilst Proxy and Doorly fill the remaining slots. Its the former and latter artists I'm currently concerned with.

First up is a remix of Armand Van Helden's all too well known dance hit 'I Want Your Soul'. Fake Blood does a good job of cutting up the vocals whilst leaving the song to work most of its catchy magic. Slightly more subtle than many of Fake Blood's other remix efforts, this song takes a typically housey tune and flips it upside out. The song builds and breaks a few times, but it's not until the three and a half minute mark that things get really heated. The cut-up vocals are pulled apart as the instrumentals disintigrate, before 'Blood kicks it back in. This is a summer tune, and a great re-working of a (now) classic tune. 

I Want Your Soul (Fake Blood Remix) - Armand Van Helden

Mr Van Helden provides the subject matter for the next track in the tow line, when his collaboration with Dizzee (expect to hear the original over, and over, and...) is remixed by Doorly. This song will melt things. You can feel the energy of the track from the word go, as hollow drums and a whir of energy start to build. Dizzee's inimitable voice is added into the mix - and it fast becomes apparent we're in for a rough ride. The track builds, and whilst I often dismiss the lyrics of Grime artists as repetetive, here Doorly's clever sampling smashes that conception out of the water. When the track drops for the first time it's big - when it drops the second time people are running scared. This is a Banger with a capital B and no denying it. Absolute dubsteppity filth. 

Bonkers (Doorly Remix) - Armand Van  Helden & Dizzee Rascal

My secondary Doorly dose is a sweet pill to swallow, more instrumental than the preceding track, it moves more slowly - this time the vocals (from Calvin Harris) compliment the pseudo-dubstep sounds emaciated by Doorly, rather than fighting against them. This is another big one, and in his remix Doorly manages to take a seemingly innocent track and smash ten rounds out of it. This is a clash of heaven made vocals and churning dubstep. 

I'm Not Alone (Doorly Remix) - Calvin Harris

Another remix of the same tune comes from the inimitable Deadmau5. Currently rocking every venur he visits, with a huge following and a sugar-sweet-sound, the Mau5 is on top. His remix of Harris couldn't be further from Doorly's attempt, where heavy dub beats are replaced with a two-step drumsound and typically edenic instrumentals. Deadmau5 is playing at Victoria Works in Leeds on the 3rd - and personally I can't think of a better way to bank holiday. Mau5 knows how to put on a show; and is a working model of how you can become a superstar all on your own. He releases on his own label, and his essential mix (its worth checking out) was full of his own material. Anyway, here it is. By the way, DJ'ing can be a notoriously lonely existance, which is why I believe the track 'I'm Not Alone' appeals to these guys. 

I'm Not Alone (Deadmau5 Remix) - Calvin Harris

Extra Goodness...

Too Cool For School (Original / Trevor Loveys / In Flagranti Remix) - Don Diablo

B goes Big for B-More

Good evening folk. Today I've been typically lounging and listening. The remixing prowess of a man who goes by the pseudonym of B has come to my attention. The driving force behind ten piece electro crew Dance Robots, Dance! pulls out big remixes for sure. First off I'm suggesting his remix of 'Oh What A Night', the original of which was recorded in 1975 by the Four Seasons. You WILL have heard that tune - and therefore you WILL know just how uplifting the vocals are. B takes those vocals, speeds them up, and adds an infectious Baltimore Beat underneath. He keeps many of the original elements of the song (vocals, fun-funky bass line and piano loops), which makes this track as much a testament to the original track, which appeared at the height of the original disco movement, as a cutting edge B-More track in it's own right. B-more as a genre is all about vocals mixed with early hip-hop style beats. It's music to make you feel good, and to have fun to. B achieves this easily. 

Oh What A Night (B's B-More Edit) - The Four Seasons  top dollar

 

Second up is another remix which encapsulates the B-More vibe, though perhaps with slightly more tongue-in-cheek. B's remix of 'The Imperial March', more commonly known as 'Darth Vader's Theme' is an inventive, understated track. It begins with Vader's wheezing breathing (30 seconds of it...how decadent), and at this point it's easy to feel excited about the future prospects of the song. Rather than making this a bangerrr, B's style is much subtler, and he utilises a simple-but-effective 2-step beat to cut contrast with the hyperbole of Vader's theme. By the time the track drops for a second time B has it in the bag. I like the fact he keeps this song to around 2:30 - as I think much more would take away from the understated beauty of the remix. Whatever. Its a bit of fun, and it works well as such.

The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme) (B's B-More Edit) - John Williams

The other side of B's production is as part of Dance Robots, Dance! or DRD for short. Of the tracks available for download on his Myspace my favorite is undoubtedly 'Up All Night', a remix of the French Horn Rebellion original. The catchy bass line/vocal combination works nicely here, and the track is clearly under the influence of artists like Daft Punk. Slightly mainstream it might be, but catchy as hell it also is. 

Up All Night (DRD remix) - French Horn Rebellion

Finally a certain treat. B's Mixtape put together for 

SXSW 2009 is a real gem. Jump Up out of

 your chair orientated, it provides a pretty good synopsis of electronica over the past year. Moreover, at only 36 minutes long the mixing is kept swift, sharp and interesting. B also cuts a ton of samples into the mix, making it varied and keeping the listener on their toes. I definitely recommend this as a mix to pump before a night out, it's upbeat and full of originality, whilst the song selection is solid.

SXSW Mix '09, 36 Minutes on the Dancefloor - B of Dance Robots, Dance!

This morning I went on a downloading spree and came across a producer/DJ hailing from Vienna who goes by the name of Motorpitch. His myspace states that the 'pitch's style is 'rough and raw to keep your feet on the floor, and a sweet melody that makes you look up to the sky and smile'. As a concept, this really works. Dub influenced beats mixed with notorious vocal samples are what this man is all about - and he does more than enough to get you dancing. What's more, he hasn't just listened to a bunch of dubplates and decided this is what he likes: he has actually been to Jamaica, and worked for various Soundsystems recording dubplates. This seems like the perfect way to gain experience working with the peoples who have shaped the dub sound, and his well-produced remixes are of a consistently high calibre. His mate Beware is also accredited on the tracks, but frankly some of Beware's solo stuff is just grating. None of the smooth vocals littering the duo's remixes are there - and thats what I love about the tracks.

The first remix I came across is his edit of Kraak & Smaak's 'Squeeze Me'. As a fan of K&S's funktopia, this naturally became an instant joy to listen to. The squelchy bass compliaments the vocals of Ben Westbeach, which thankfully are left largely unchanged. Sampling around the song, Motorpitch creates a dancefloor thriller. What's more, the song gathers pace throughout; the numerous mini-drops serving to tease the listener into a frenzied party-beast.

Kraak & Smaak - Squeeze Me (Beware & Motorpitch Remix)

Second up is the reasonably successful (made it onto Hype) remix of Mongrel's 'Hit From The Morning Sun'. This song really iterates the dancehall influences in Motorpitch's work, bounce-bounce-shake-it-up style makes this an upbeat dancehall killer. The tunes two vocalists compliment each other well, with the pseudo-chorus' creating an able foil for the unnamed female rapper to spit over.

Mongrel - Hit From The Morning Sun (Beware & Motorpitch Remix)

Finally I have something a bit more dub influenced, a bit less dancehall orientated. Here Motorpitch creates a nice mash up of Lil' Kim's 'Put Your Lighters Up', which provides the chorus to the verses of 'Welcome to Jamrock' by Damien Marley. The combination of vocals is a nice one, and as the bassline rolls rhythmically on the accompanying snare's and brass section make this a cleverly constructed remix.

Motorpitch - Kingston Jamaica

Perhaps the only thing I would say, Mr. Motorpitch, is get yourself a bloody artist. No one wants to see a shaven-headed bloke on a green background. The name Motorpitch is pretty inventive, now go get a designer to make you a logo.

Wall Drawing and Sinden

Graffiti has long been at the heart of the art-versus-vandalism debate. Whilst the artists themselves cite their work as a form which provides freedom of expression across the drab urban landscape, council's and pensioners worldwide see (what to them must only be) uninterpretable mirages of colour as dirtying the city. Pesky kids.

Whilst the debate around graffiti rages, graphic artists across the world are taking the concept behind graffiti - to make something plain into something alive - and since the mid twentieth century have carved out a new artistic medium. Wall Drawings have become a graphic artists playground. No longer confined by the limitations of this or that project, the freedom of expression associated with Graffiti is translated into a myriad of repeated designs, large pop-art esque motifs and bold broken fonts.

Conceptual artist Sol LeWitt is often accredited with the introduction and real advancement of the wall drawing genre. His wall-art combines geometric shapes, bright colours and disco-patterns made to surprise the onlooker. You can imagine getting lost in his artwork - transfixed by the simple yet enchanting patterns on display. The MASS MoCA gallery is currently undertaking a twenty-five year homage to LeWitt in the form of a three floor retrospective look at some of LeWitt's best work. During the period of construction the gallery undertook you could watch artists imitating LeWitt's style in real time. Now that is dedication. Most of the artwork from the gallery is online here.

In terms of contemporary artists working in the genre of wall drawings, the list is endless. Most artists and graphic designers worth a pinch of salt seem to have dabbled with the medium -the lack of constraint which a huge wall offers is simply too appealing for these young creative minds. Some of my favorites have to come from Tokyo based designer Torarin. I was looking for T-shirts when I stumbled across his website. His drawings are entrenched in the organic - roots sprout from words and motifs, the artwork growing from the foundations of the building.

The art above is called 'Assistant' rather surprisingly, and adorns the wall of Tokyo based firm WithAssistant. Drawn in pen with some kind of polyfilla for the colourant, the simplistic design stands out, and suggests a certain anti-growth. Close-ups and a smattering of the rest of Torarin's works are here. Expect to see more wall-drawings as time goes on.

On the music front I have a Sinden remix of the S.O.V. (as she likes calling herself) - only in this track she manages to largely hold back from lairy rude-girl esque rapping and puts down a rather enchanting vocal, which provides perfect contrast with the frenetic synths and heavy bassline of Sinden's creation. The track builds and builds, and the vocals ignite the positivism which the looping drumbeat emphasises. This is undoubtedly a party track - but the surprising softness of Miss Sovereign's voice leaves the listener with a sense of catharsis. By the way, Lady Sovereign should be made to scrub the stencils of herself off the wall. Thatt'le learn 'em.

Lady Sovereign - Human (Sinden Remix)

Out]]]

First Post Matters.

Well, hello there interweb. On the recommendation of my good friend Mr Pelski I have decided to start blogging. The aim of my blog is twofold. Firstly, it offers a chance to deliver both musical, photographic and artistic gems to you, the readership. Secondly, it will undoubtedly offer me the chance to learn more about the things that I am interested in. Sweet deals.

I think blogging is quite a self-indulgent passtime; where the notion that the Blogger's opinion - which manipulates the opinion of others - is the key. As such, I also believe that blogging is best when the opinion of the blogger is expressed clearly and concisely, without taking anything away from your interpretation of the art on display. In some senses I make a contradiction here. My blogging will of course be based solely around what I like, and the reasons why I like it; although

the reason YOU like what I blog is equally important. Consider this then not a relationship of power - but one based on mutual love of awesome subject matter.

Right, onwards.

The first song I am posting comes from Berlin based Minimal Tech artist Lee Jones. One third of My My, his solo album Electronic Frank has been out for a while now - but I thought the track 'Every Click Matters' was pretty topical this being my first post. The song begins in a melodic but jarring fashion, the stop-start nature of the introduction setting a listener off kilter. When the multi-layered drums kick we are offered an upbeat, minimal sound which permeates the remainder of the track. Whoops and layered vocals provide the liquid refreshment within the song, whilst the looped bass undulates throughout. This song might provide the soundtrack to twentyfirst century jungle exploration. Certainly, the zebra images smattered across his myspace (link above) and the delicately drawn Zebra adorning his album cover suggest a certain animalism. Perhaps Jones is making reference to the baseness of the minimal genre, his beautifully crafted songs providing a parallel to the necessarily refined creatures which litter the animal kingdom.

Lee Jones - Every Click Matters