Yet another moniker and label for Paul Rose aka Scuba, who seems to be about the most prolific producer around just now, between his remixes and other projects and labels. At least it seems like there is always something new that he has been invloved in in the shops when I go out, and I've been picking up a fair bit of it.
The lead track, Hard Boiled VIP is a remix of an earlier Scuba single and makes it far more techno than the original. There isn't much here that is particularly innovative or novel, but it is done really sweetly and is a style of record that I have found hard to resist for a while now. expecially when this well executed.
The flip side 28_5 is more pumping than the lead track, but it doesn't really do very much. It is fairly repetitive, but I reckon it would work well for mixing.
I was given some money for xmas and as always happens whenever I have some spare coin floating about, I've got to use some of it on vinyl. In this case I popped into rubadub and picked up a couple of pretty new electronic releases.
First up is this latest offering from Martyn on his own 3024 label. I've picked up most of the releases on this label, aside from Martyn's album which I have to confess I found pretty disappointing, especially on vinyl as it lacked the previous singles which were included on the cd making it a slightly more tempting proposition.
This single is a bit better though, making a sort of cocktail of techno/house/dubstep. I reckon I probably prefer the flip side, Shook Up with its more traditionaland pumping 4:4 programming and fat bassline, but Left Hander isn't bad either. I'm happy that this is a good single as it indicates that Martyn still has a lot to offer, contrary to what his album maybe suggested.
I'd thought for ages that I wouldn't really like this record, but I was wrong. I heard most of it at a party a while back and I almost couldn't believe it when my mate told me what it was. I've been listening to a copy of this for a bit while I've been looking for the record. I've been playing a few songs off it a lot recently, so I eventually ran out of patience waiting for a cheap copy and just bought a new copy from amazon of all places.
I think this record gets treated as quite a big deal, it seems to be on lots of lists of the greatest albums ever and that sort of thing. I reckon there could be some justification for it all. From the first line of the first song (Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine) onwards, its clear that this record is driven by Patti's lyrics and delivery. which are both unusual and distinctive.
I like most of the songs and they cover a bit of a range, from shorter poppier or punkier things to sprawling improvisations. There are times when its all quite delicate, but others where it's almost menacing. I've got favourites that I keep playing as well. I'll add videos for some of these.
Another internet purchase, but one of the rare ones that didn't go so well. I ordered it off Discogs ages ago, but the guy just never sent the record. I eventually got a refund after 4 weeks and used it to buy it again from Juno.
More top quality techno from Frozen Border. I still enjoy the nameless, faceless stamped label techno thing. I think its the B side I prefer of the 2 tracks on this, although they do seem like 2 mixes of the same tune. No problem though as its a belter.
Didn't know anything about this until I saw this in the racks in rubadub. Numbers is the label they are running now and I've not been that interested in many of the releases, but I still check them out. This wasn't a hard decision to make.
rubadub say something like the title track ‘Theme from Slackk’ brings back the raw aggression of the aptly named Underground Resistance classics Fury and Punisher and intermixes it with the tribal energy of UK Funky". I think this is pretty accurate, although I did change one of the track titles. It certainly put ideas like that into my head before I'd read their blurb.
I had a huge smile on my face as soon as I heard this, so it was definitely coming straight home with me. The two versions of Theme are great fun. The only real difference is that the dub doesn't have the voice spelling out S-L-A-C-K-K.
The other side 'Fireflies' uses similar sounds, but is maybe a little more 'serious'. This is a quality single and I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for Slackk in future.
The line up of personnel involved in this single was was attracted me to it in the first place. Ramadanman and Appleblim have been involved in a lot of interesting music recently, and the input of Carl Craig is always enough to get me to give something a listen. I reckon it also shows that some of this new UK stuff is getting a bit more international.
Four/Four techno with dubby stylings is the order of the day here. The original mix has an unusual meandering feel that I quite like, with sprawling breakdowns and build ups and nice gradual variations on the elements. I've heard a bit of stuff from these guys before and it sounds quite different from what I might have expected, nor does it sound like much else I've come across recently.
Carl Craig's edit narrows the scope to a few particular elements and develops a bit more of a drive to the track and it certainly seems a bit more mix/dance focussed.
It's hard to call a favourite here as there is a lot to like about both, although I reckon I've been playing the edit a bit more often.
This is the third release I've picked from Joy Orbison and the 2nd on his Doldrums label. This one follows a sort of pattern for me, in that I find I tend to really like one side of each of them, and find the other a bit too vocally.
BB is the track for me on this one. Quite housy, with a Detroit feel to the bass and the synth washes this is a lot more 4:4 than the other releases I've got, but this is no bad thing here.
I've heard it said that life is about priorities. If that's so then I guess my decisions about this record could be pretty telling.
This record came into rubadub the day before I got paid and I hardly had any money left. I had enough to buy 20 fags for the day and some dinner after work, or at least that is what I'd planned until I saw the e-mail telling me that this record was available. I actually took a half day from work to rush out to get this and made do with an empty belly and 10 fags.
My excitement about this record was so great that I wasn't prepared to even wait 24 hours until I'd been paid. This was down to the fact that I've been playing a different version of the A-side of this single that I downloaded from Cottam's soundcloud a while back so much that I was even messaging him to pester him to release it.
I think I've written before about how much I like Cottam, so the fact that I love this single should come as no surprise. The A side is so good I can't stop playing it. The elements of this song are pretty simple, guitar loops plus a synth line combined with a small vocal sample and finally a few few acid tweaks, but they way they are put together and used to just keep raising the intensity of this track make me wish I still went out dancing just so I could lose my mind to this.
This isn't a mental or pounding record, it's just really great, really effective dance music. It still has the Cottam trademark detailed percussion programming and the tempo is only a bit higher than usual. Awesome stuff.
On the flip side we've got some swinging funky guitar loops with an electronic bass pulse intertwined with sirens and weird vocals. That maybe makes it sound a bit crazy, but the low tempo and subtle production resolves it all into a coherent smooth whole. While not as rocking as the A-side this grooves on sweetly for about 10 minutes in that distinctive Cottam style.
This is a bit of an unusual purchase for me. A modern classical soundtrack to a strange movie.
I first got into the song Pruit Igoe from playing Grand Theft Auto IV as it was on one of the in-game radio channel, but I've heard it loads of other places before and since. The soundtrack to the game is really good in places and has some unusual selections. Way better than you'd normally expect in a computer game.
I bought the DVD of the movie Koyannisqatsi and it is well worth a watch. Loads of images of the world set to this awesome soundtrack. I've watched it a few times and grew to like the music more and more. It all seemed quite familiar from the outset, but I reckon that is down to countless appearances in movies and adverts and in the background on TV.
Neu! are a German band from the 1970's formed by guys who had previously played guitar and drums in very early Kraftwerk line ups. Their sound is based around the driving rhythms with layers of guitar noise and effects swirling over the top. I reckon it is instantly recognisable and has inspired countless influences and imitators.
I'd always heard that they ran out of money while recording this record and only had about half an album done, forcing them to use versions of other tracks played at different speeds to pack out the tracks to make up a full record, although I have read elsewhere that this was an artistic decision rather than one born out of financial pragmatism. I'm not sure, I still think I prefer the first explanation I heard, but irrespective of the reasons, this is effectively half an album as I don't really get much from the tracks played a different speeds. Having said that, the remaining full tracks at the right speed add up to a solid 12" or mini album's worth of amazingness. This re-issue is pressed on lovely white vinyl, same as my version of the first album. Another item that I always felt was a big omission from my collection that I am more than happy to have filled.
It was my birthday the other day and I was given some cash to go treat myself. I couldn't think of a better use than filling a few back catalogue gaps.
I shouldn't need to say much about Joy Division, other than to perhaps explain why it has taken me so long to get round to picking this up. I'd spent years under the mistaken belief that I didn't really like Joy Division, other than Love Will Tear Us Apart. That is until I was really stuck about what to do with a voucher I'd been given for a rubbish music megastore which didn't sell records. After a long fruitless search I finally decided to take a punt on the Joy Division cd box set Heart & Soul. It really changed my mind about the band and they gradually became a favourite of mine.
As I grew to love Joy Division, I became increasingly dissatisfied with only having their stuff on cd so I inevitably started buying the albums on vinyl. Closer just happens to be the last of the official releases that I acquired. I know that not everyone understands my feeling that I don't have music properly until I have it on record, but my treatment of Joy Division is about the clearest evidence of this, given that the box set has everything and more than can be found on the albums I've bought since then.
Closer is a straight up classic album in my view. It demonstrates the breadth of the Joy Division sound, from the sound of doom through to things that on first listen appear to be quite poppy but with Ian Curtis's lyrics adding that special edge. Loads of nice synth sounds as well.
It seemed like a while since I'd got something new so I picked this up in rubadub at the weekend. I've got a few Altered Natives things now, and their remix of Ikonika is one of my tracks of the year.
It was the tracks on the B-side that initially drew me in to this one. The sound on these seems to me to be a mutation of house, but with some modern UK drums. The A is a bit ravier. I'll add a video, or a decent link if I find one, but I've added a link so you can hear tasters from rubadub.
I picked this pretty ancient and flaky release up off Discogs the other day. It has kind of been on my want list for a very long time, since I first heard it on a really old Slam Essential Mix, back around the time it was broadcast and sold as a double tape at the Arches nights. This mix had a really big influence on my record buying and listening and was a mainstay for my friends and I for a while. I heard it while I was still getting familiar with dance music and it showed a few really fruitful avenues of exploration in terms of artists and labels that were new to me. I've now bought the lion's share of the releases from this mix and there are even still a couple that I'm looking to get.
Despite a truly tragic introduction, I really like Transpassage. It's impossible to tell if this is by association with my history with the track or if I'd think it was shit if I heard it for the first time today, but who cares. I will say that the rest of the single is awful and I haven't really got anything good to say about it. Discogs says that Transpassage was produced by someone different from the rest of the single and I reckon that may explain a lot.
These are the second and third volumes of Burglar Tom's unoffical re-works of a variety of tracks by an eclectic range of artists. I've had the first one for a while, since Rothko picked up the set and blew me away with the the version of the Bush Tetra's - Snakes Crawl from Volume 1.
I got the first volume at the time and had been thinking of picking up the other two since then. I found these two going relatively cheap on Discogs, so I finally got round to it.
These 2 volumes contain reworks of Joy Division, Velvet Underground, Autechre, LFO, Brian Eno and others.
I haven't been able to find much in the way of decent links to these tracks, but I've added links to hear some short samples from the rubadub website.
I saw this in rubadab when I was picking up the Sound Stream single. It took me no thought at all to be needing this. One of my all time favourite house tracks by Carl Craig'sPaperclip People with a cover version of the track by my favourite current band, LCD Soundsystem. 'No Brainer' seems to sum it up.
I've already got another copy of the original version of Throw, but a fresh replacement is welcome as my old one is a wee bit of a battle weary veteran.
LCD Soundsystem's version is fairly faithful to the original, recreating the characteristic bassline and hi-hats. It even has the weird vocals, but their is a new layer of keyboards that adds the LCD Soundsystem stylings.
This is apparently a fixture in LCD's live sets. I can't remember if they played it when I've seen them before, but I hope they do when I go to see them in a couple of weeks time.
Only the fifth Sound Stream release in 11 years, I almost ran to rubadub when I saw this was out. Continuing this sequence of stylish and distinctive house EPs, this record has three tracks of polished production and unsusual edits.
While this is possibly not the best in the series, it still has a lot I like about it. After picking this up, I cracked out the older ones to bask in their amazingness. I've added videos for a couple as well as a taste from the new single.
This was the single that Kid Ritalin played at our recent practice. I was totally blown away by it and as I mentioned in the last post I went in to rubadub the next day to pick this up and check out all the other available releases.
I really like both sides of this single. The a-side starts with a few minutes of percussive build up, leading to a pulsing bassline and some dubby chords. Excellent!
The flip side uses basically the same palette of sounds , but starts with the chords from the get go. I feel I probably prefer this side as it doesn't take so long to get going, and has less of an outro.
I've got to say that I love the fact that the info on this record is black text printed on to a black label. Not exactly user friendly, but then there is no really meaningful info there anyway.
More white label techno from rubadub. I'd let this Frozen Border label pass me by until Kid Ritalin let me hear some stuff on the related Horizontal Ground label at one of our recent Molotov Disco practice sessions. I went in to rubadub the first chance I got and they had a fair few titles from both labels. I found a couple that I had to get straight away.
I don't know anything about the artists behind this, but for me that just adds to it. I kind of like my techno to be nameless, faceless and pressed on to info free white labels. Discogs says its UK based and that is where the info stops.
There are two untitled tracks of jacking techno on this 12. They both have a quite a retro sound and while they may get a little bit repetitive if you listen to them just as tracks, I'm certain that they would mix well.
I reckon the a-side shades it slightly for me but they are both solid tracks.
My copy of this is slightly different from the the versions pictured as it has a white label with just an e-mail address stamped on to it.
It took me a while to get round to picking this up, which is a little surprising given my interest in both Hyperdub and Kevin Martin. I decided to give it a whirl from rubadub recently. I fancied it since it has both the old single Cool Out as well as the new 7" Lost, both of which I've had a mind to pick up.
Less mental, but more eerie than Kevin Martin's stuff as The Bug, there is a really heavy atmosphere to this album. Roger Robinson's understated vocals emphasize the generally listless, melancholy feel of the whole thing.
I had most of the Betty Botox stuff up until this set of 3 12"s came out. I'm not really sure why, but these seemed to just pass me by. I heard the Severed Heads edit recently and it sent an odd shiver of recognition through me. I'm sure I must have heard Twitch play it sometime when I was out in party mode.
I was so taken with this after hearing it that I immediately snatched a copy off Discogs, from the same Belgian dude that sold me the Fela from the last post.
Twitch's edit of Severed Heads mainly consists of moving the intro of the record to the middle, turning it into a breakdown. Quite simple, but it really works and makes a significant improvement on the original. My friends are a little divided about this track, but I reckon they'll come around if I just keep playing it. The Pankow edit is pretty cool too.
I can't find a link to the Twitch edit, so I've added a video for the original.
I've been too hooked on the Xbox recently to post, but I've still been picking up some quality selections over the last couple of weeks.
First up is this Fela Kuti compilation. I first heard this when my friend gave me a tape of the CD version he had bought. I guess the fact it was a tape shows it was a while ago.
I'd always been a bit annoyed that there had never been a vinyl edtion of this best of compilation, but it finally got vinyl release in France earlier this year. I enquired with my local shops to see if they could get it in for me, but it didn't work out so I bought it off Discogs from some dude in Belgium who happened to have another record I wanted which made the postage seem better value.
There are 12 tracks spread over 3 slabs of vinyl. The tracks showcase Fela's sound and I think they are drawn from the albums shown on the sleeve of this record. Most of the tracks clock in over 10 minutes and the band produce a solid funk sound to rival the JBs. it maybe gets a little saxxy at times, but the drive of the rest of the band keeps me going.
"Organ driven Afro-Beat, cosmic Afro-funk, raw, psychedelic boogie and some other stuff we won't even try to describe are just some of the flavours found on this highly danceable compilation" states the blurb on the back of this album. I'm not about to argue.
This is the second album I've bought on this Analog Africa label. Another great cover. It's the same one I mentioned right back at the start of this blog. I've been waiting a while for this album to come out. Very pleased its finally here, so I can get torn into it.
I'm not going to say much about this other than this is brilliant compilation and I can't wait to start adding tracks from this into my funkier sets. The description on the back is better than I can manage. I'll also need to find the time to read the comprehensive looking notes printed on pretty much every spare inch of the sleeves of this record.
I've added videos to give a flavour of the quality and variety to be found on this superb album.
I'd pretty much ignored Planet Mu for most of it's history until I bought a few releases by Pinch and Gemmy. I listen to a them when I see them now, but they tend to be a bit far out for me, just like I'd thought about the label before.
This solo debut release from Optimum almost follows suit. The first track, Max Power is driven by ravey sounding synths, but it gets a wee bit repetitive and the drums are wee bit lightweight for the track in my view.
I'm really not very sure about the second track, Crash Riddim. It uses a similar palette of sounds to Max Power. I like the bass, but the lead synths just bug me. There are other elements that I'd like if used differently.
It's really the last track, Lily that I bought this single for. It's totally different from the other tracks on the single. The tempo has dropped, the rave is gone and has been replaced by layered washes of warm synth and smooth sub-bass. The drum programming as a bit more electro as well. The overall effect is fairly Detroit, or possibly even puts me in mind of Virgo Four. The track is melty and melodic, but still has a steady pulse from the rhythm. I feel this might stick with me for a bit.
My first purchase from Aus Music. I've seen a few in rubadub before, but none of them have really clicked for me. I gave this a spin because I'd liked the remix they'd done of Ramadanman & Appleblim for Apple Pips. I was also tempted by the Scuba remix.
I'm not quite sure what is going on with the tracklist on this single. The label says that the first side has 2 tracks, Sequence 1 and Small Moments and the other has remixes of Sequence 1 by Mount Kimbie and Scuba. However, there is only one track on the A-side and it plays at 45 and not at 33 as stated. I think the label is wrong, and I reckon it's the Mount Kimbie remix that is missing. The Aus Music website seems to support this idea as it doesn't mention this mix.
The label shown above is different from mine and close scrutiny reveals that it has the Scuba remix as the lead track, with the original and Small Moments on the side with 2 tracks. I'm going to follow that as it makes sense of whats on the record, and all the mentions of the single on the web. What a lot of prattle about a label misprint!
I reckon the lead track Sequence 1 (Scuba Remix) is the strongest on the single. Most of the elements are drawn from the original, but Scuba has pumped it up a fair bit, especially in the drums. He works the effects more on the synths as well. I reckon I'll be giving this a good few plays.
Next up is the original of Sequence 1. Strange thing to say, but I reckon this track suffers a little from the remix on the other side. They are really quite similar and I just think Scuba nails it.
The original is pretty solid techno. It has nice percussion and I imagine it working well in the mix or for dancing.
Finally we get Small Moments which drops the intensity a little and has a bit of a housier sound. It has a bit of a dreamy bit with vocals in the middle, but I don't see this getting many plays.
Another rubadub special, this is the first new music released by Virgo Four since 1989 and it is really something special. There are two tracks, Lites Go Out and Look Into Your Eyes and it is more of the smooth late 80s, dreamy deep house that has made Virgo Four a favourite of seemingly all who have heard them. I've spent a while trying to find links related to this record, but the rubabub one above and this Fact magazine site are all that I could find. It's not on rubadub's website as they say they are only selling it out the shop and its not even on the site for Rush Hour. This is probably because the single was meant to be for sale on a Virgo Four tour.
While trying to find either samples or pictures for this record, I came across so many gushing reviews of Virgo Four, the regard they are held in is obvious. I'd almost forgotten how good they were in the years since I first heard them. I still really love their stuff and I am not surprised when people who are hearing it for the first time through being compiled and re-released are just as taken with it now as I was all those years ago.
The picture I've used is a generic picture of a clear vinyl record with black labels like this single, but its not the right record. I've added videos for other Virgo Four tracks so you can hear how great they are. If I ever find anything related to the actual single I bought, I'll add it later. I'm not sure how likely that is given that this seems to be a fairly rare purchase. However, the tracks on the new single would have fitted right in on their album, so the videos below will give an idea of the sound of this single.
I've been a big fan of Soul Jazz Records for a while now, particularly for their reggae, funk and soul complilations. While I haven't always been so convinced by their electronic music complilations, I felt this was just too hot to resist.
I saw this in rubadub last week when I was picking up the Model 500 single and got it put by with another couple of things to collect when I had more cash.
Featuring contributions from Mala and Coki from Digital Mystiks, LD who has released on Hyperdub and elsewhere, Ginz who has collaborated with Joker and is in Emptyset, Four Tet, Untold, Ramadanman and Kevin Martin's latest outfit Black Chow this album is a really good cross section of the adventurous side of current UK Bass Music. There are also tracks by artists that are new to me which are very interesting and will require further investigation, particularly V.I.V.E.K and Sub Version
There is a wide range of styles on this triple pack, ranging from out and out rampant bangers to more subdued introspective moods. I'm looking forward to getting better acquainted with all of these.
I've just been paid again, so I went on a proper spree around the shops of Glasgow yesterday. I got a few cool new things, a few things I'd been looking for a while and a couple of classics.
Starting with the classics, I first heard Mazzy Star in the mid 90's, a while after these records came out. I'd already heard their predecessor Opal from a very old friend, back when I still lived in Edinburgh. However, I always thought that good as Opal were, Mazzy Star were superior.
Hope Sandoval's vocals are just so gorgeous and fragile and the accompaniment forms a pefect balance by being light handed and understated. It's maybe a wee bit twee compared to much of the rest of the stuff I listen to today, but I have continued to return to these albums over and over again ever since I first heard them.
I saw this pair of brand new 180g re-issue albums in Mono yesterday and bought them immediately for about the price of an average second hand copy of just one of the originals. Admittedly, my easy attitude to money yesterday was fuelled in part by drink, but I've been looking to get these for so long that I'm still chuffed to bits about them in the cold light of a hungover Saturday.
I've added videos for a few of the of the tracks that I reckon shine most.
