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.
