Die Mensch-Maschine

052. Tidy Girls EP

2011-10-08T19:55:00.001+01:00

Back in the game! Finally,another recordadded to the collection. Overthe lastyear collecting records has beenrelegated on the priority list.Yet, I still remember a timewhen amassing the coolestrecord collection the DJing world had ever seen wasa priority second to none.

I'm not quite sure where this recordfits into that goal, but thisis certainlya recordfromthose earlier years. By contemporarystandards, its a bit laughable. And, if I'm honest, even in1999 it wasn't muchmore. The key track from the EPis Lisa Lashes' offering, Looking Good. This was a centraltrack fromthe first wave of vinyl releases whichpushed Hard House further from the undergroundand closer tocommercialism.

Roland - Alpha Juno 1

The entire EP is dominated by theRoland Alpha Juno. Even if you know nothing about synths, bylistening to this record and reading the above sentence, you'll knowthat the Alpha Juno is responsible for 'that' sound – the hoover.

Hard House had a thing for hoovers.Starting out as a bit of harmlessfun, itquickly became fetishised toan morbidly sickening state. Imagine whatit might be like to watch the 28^thconsecutive seasonof Big Brother, for 52 hours non-stop...without sleep.The relationship between HardHouse and hoovers is now apparent.

The irony of allthis was that mostpeople were already sick to death of the sound by the late 90s. TheAlpha Juno was already feelingfatiguedfrom the hoovering it was forced to do on all those Rave, HappyHardcore and Gabba tracks beforeHard House was but a twinkleit its parent-genre's eyes.

Ok, so I'veprobably cheapened myself andmy record collection just that tiny bit by succumbingto the sickly sweet charm of thisEP, but the innocent enthusiasm of the young 15 year old recordcollector was stirred from the subconscious by the discovery of a £1.99 near-mintcopy.

'Monthe hoover! (As they used to say back in the day.)

Lisa Lashes - Looking Good [Tidy Girls Ep] by dcp84

Tidy Girls EP

[Tidy Trax : TIDY123T]

(1999)

Oxfam, Oxford: £1.99

051. Lizzy & Gareth’s Wedding

2011-08-13T19:01:00.004+01:00

For anyone wanting to hone their practice of the dark art of playing music to other people, a wedding offers no better a social occasion. DJing at a wedding is particularly tricky. Unlike a club, people don’t come with the intention of having a drink, socialising and having a dance. People attend a wedding to see and celebrate the happy couple. Everything else is an optional extra. So, as a DJ trying to operate the dance floor you’re immediately on the back foot. You have a wide mixture of ages, a wider still mixture of musical tastes, and a number of social rules and set pieces to navigate through. This is the couple’s ‘perfect day’. They’ve spent months agonising over the menu, the dress, even the typeface of the invitation. Then finally comes you; the compulsive record collector with a garage load of audio electronics.

The opulent Tring Park School for the Performing Arts was the magnificent venue for the wedding reception of Lizzy and Gareth. Setting up in the ballet practice room of the beautiful building designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built during the 1600s you couldn’t have wanted for a nicer location to set up. Given our location, selected movements from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake seemed only fitting as a quiet backdrop as the evening progressed.

After the initial half an hour of dancing following on from the bride and groom’s first dance, it was evident that most people were more inclined to soak up the splendour of the venue, let their dinner settle, and catch up with old acquaintances. Prudence at this point recommended a lower-key approach and for the next half an hour acoustic, jazz and soul featured on the playlist.

Some choice motown was used to assess the mood for dancing and as the toes started tapping and the heads nodding, it was time to start upping the ante and tempt people to the dance floor. The challenge in this gig lay in the venue’s layout. With a vast and beautiful outdoor area, seating in one room, the bar in another room and the dance floor in another room – where drinks were not allowed – getting people into the disco was hard work.

Hard, but not impossible, and the steady ebb and flow of people to and from the dancefloor continued for the rest of the night. As the bride and groom made their way from the wedding reception in their carriage, the night began to wind down as many people from the north of England who had a considerable drive ahead of them began to make their way home. After a final few floorfillers it was sadly time to wrap up the night and pack up the gear, reflecting on how beautiful a venue it was to DJ in.

Congratulations once more to the happy couple: Lizzy and Garreth.

Special thanks must go to Sonic Bass for their exceptional professional service:
www.sonicbass.co.uk

Finally, if you'd like to discuss the possibility of hiring me to DJ at your event be it a club night, corporate event or wedding, leave me a message and I'll be in touch.

Tune of the Night: The Killers - Mr. Brightside
Cleared the Dancefloor: Kings of Leon - Sex On Fire (First time I've ever seen this get a bad reception! Are people finally getting bored of it?)

050. Johnny Shaker - Pearl River (Instrumental)

2011-05-24T19:45:00.000+01:00

Perl River is for many a definitive trance track. As with most things though, definition (or rather social labelling) holds greater sway than any specific characteristics. How we think about the world is always holds more sway than the objective reality of the world.

The period betwen 1998-2001, plus or minus a few years, is commonly regarded as the ‘golden age of trance’. In 1999 Pearl River smashed out across dance floors across the globe. DJs smoothly mixed the track into countless double CD compilations following on from its clubland fortunes. This late 90s success earmarked it as genre framing classic trance and I distinctly remember it featuring in a Gatecrasher New Years Eve Classics night in the mid 2000s.

In truth, 1999 was Pearl River’s second outing. Originally hitting dance floors in 1996 with a release in 1997, it shares status with other ‘classic-trance-from-99’ tunes which weren’t actually from 1999 at all; Paul Van Dyk’s For An Angel probably being the foremost example.

Like the archaeologist who digs up an Iron Age broach which has evidently been made in the Bronze age, we have to ask, what’s at play here? Why did some Trance fall short in the mid-90s only to explode in the late-90s?

Explanation can be found by examining the socio-economic historical context of Pearl River’s first outing. In 1996 clubland was a very different place. The euphoria from the days of acid house had all but been completely extinguished by the crackdown on race culture codified into law by 1994’s Criminal Justice Act.

As "sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats" were being slowly and uncertainly appropriated by a fledgling club culture, the ravers used to hurtling round the M25 of a weekend looking for tips on the next illegal party didn’t feel comfortable enough just yet to abandon the free cultural moral high-ground and head into the arms of the capitalists - however clean the toilets and good the weather was indoors.

It would take a youth culture in the UK who were happy to embrace the benefits of high capitalism’s cultural product, of cultural consumption choices used to create post-modern musical identity, clubbing brands rather than simple clubs and record labels as websites, T-Shirts, video streams and web radio for a dance music to really grow.

In 1996 and 1997 things were beginning to bubble. The queues outside house and techno clubs were getting longer and someone walking around town in a Ministry of Sound T-Shirt didn’t look out of place. The formula of the golden era of trance had yet to be agreed upon, but the key musical characteristics were being experimented with. Breakdowns were getting longer, snare rolls louder, saws were making wider leads and Dutch DJs seemed to be talked about more and more.

The kids who were too young to have embraced Acid House were thinking about electronic music and clubbing in an increasingly positive light. Thinking they could get the best out of capitalism without any of the cost they started getting sucked in. It isn’t without irony that many from this cohort were the first and loudest to proclaim in the early 2000s that the trance bubble had burst, that the brands had become too commercial and the music had become a boring and formulaic only driven by hype. Followers of Techno on the other hand, a much more subversive, anti-mainstream and possible even politically aware genre, just looked on with a smug smile, saying quietly ‘I told you this would happen’.

So, in 1996 and 1997, people just weren't ready for Pearl River. Only by 1999, when the commercial apparatus of Trance as a clubbing brand, a cultural identity marker and symbol of post-post-Modernity was ready did it have the success it finally won. This odd artifact in the social memory of Trance is worth thinking about as it throws up some very interesting questions about aesthetic origin and of course the normative account of the genre’s history...not bad for something you mum probably owns on her digitally mixed ‘WORLD’S BEST MEGA-TRANCE HITS’ triple compilation.

Johnny Shaker - Pearl River (Instrumental) by dcp84

Johnny Shaker – Pearl River (Instrumental)
[Low Sense : 12SENSE24]
(1999)

Discogs: £4.70

049. Oliver Prime - Radiance

2011-03-25T22:52:00.004Z

Trance – what should I say about the much abused genre? I'd never admit it to the uber-cool elitists nodding rhythmically to Dave Clarke or Rex The Dog, writing down each and every record in the set list, but I do have a soft spot for the genre. Trance was the genre which brought me into DJing, sparking the obsession for record collecting and electronic music which has been with me for the majority of my life. Alarming but true. When my mind was opened to electronica, trance was the upcoming sound of the moment, bubbling away with an unrestrained energy in the few years before its unprecedented explosion into popular culture.

It is all too easy to fall back on the ubiquitous old writ that 'Trance is not what it used to be'. Wile there is truth in that to a degree - modern trance productions frequently rely on massive overproduction to carry a tune and excessively euphoric and uplifting programming to achieve their sound - I'm wise enough to understand that many of us are looking back on things with a rather biased perspective. Who doesn't think that their defining soundtrack, their pure genre, their musical everything hasn't lost the soul that made it so great along its way? This is a common understanding which unites the punks of the 70s, the goths of the 80s and the ravers of the 90s.

Despite all this, sometimes the jaded, tinnitus ridden ears of this record collector strike lucky. Despite the bias, despite the over production and despite the commerce you get to hear a genre defining track. As if out of nowhere, it makes you remember just what it was you loved about all that chemical driven Cyberdog Gatecrasher hands in the air nonsense.

After you've heard this, you once more know what to say about Trance. Close your eyes, let your mind go blank, and you’re on an introspective journey wherever your mind wants to take you. Add some substances of questionable legal origin into the mix, and you’re on a trip to another realm of consciousness altogether.

Oliver Prime - Radiance (Original Mix) by dcp84

Oliver Prime – Radiance
[Reset : RS006]
(2004)

Discogs: £4.20

048. Annie – Don’t Stop

2010-09-01T23:06:00.001+01:00

Record collecting is a labour intensive activity. While collections do expand organically, they do not osmotically develop. For a killer collection, you need to do your homework. Listening to other DJs is of course the easiest option. Last week, Nemone, playing on BBC 6 Music, the endangered home of intelligent, challenging and high quality alternative music, dropped the stunning Swiss Donnie Sloan Remix of Annie – Songs Remind Me Of You.

Instantly, the urge kicked in; that driving force which painful pushes each and every record collector; the desire to know exactly what your hearing, which record label its on, who produced it, and when. You need to own that record. Life won’t be complete until you do. Already you can see it sitting in the dusty collection, ready and waiting to jump out and clap you round the ears with its sheer sonic brilliance.

While the remix was nice, I was completely unprepared for the original. Firing up the youtube video for the track, the uptempo synthpop chugger made me want to buy the album instantly. Even if this was the only quality track it would be worthwhile buying. Buying blind isn’t something I’ve done in a long time.

Sadly, the LP doesn’t quite live up to the standard of this single. We’re offered a generally inoffensive wonkypop album which doesn’t quite find the same gear as Songs Remind Me Of You manages. At the end of play, you can help but be left with the sad feeling that this song would be number one if only it were performed by Xenomania’s brightest stars: Girls Aloud.

Annie - Songs Remind Me Of You by dcp84

Annie – Don’t Stop : Songs Remind Me Of You
[Smalltown Supersound : STS178LP]
(2009)

Discogs: €26.57 EUR

047. I Love Acid

2010-06-10T16:45:00.001+01:00

New Order - Confusion (Pump Panel Reconstruction Mix) by dcp84

Electric Sun - I Love Acid [No. 32 of 50]
(2010)

electric-sun.co.uk: £20.99

046. D.A.V.E. The Drummer - Dig Your Own Grave E.P

2010-06-09T23:02:00.001+01:00

If you want the definition of acid techno, look no further. The One Last One provides us with paranoid, schizophrenic, twitchy, dark and ominous synthetic utterances. The perfect track to drop at 0400, when people wiser than you have already have gone home.

Its been trading online for obscene prices, fluctuating around the £50 mark. While I’d have loved to add a mint condition pressing of this gem to the collection, my bank manager is less than enthusiastic. Instead I opted for a punt on a £21.90 version; a punt that paid off. While the sleeve was a bit worn around the edges, the vinyl was spot on.

D.A.V.E The Drummer - Dig Your Own Grave E.P. by dcp84

D.A.V.E. The Drummer – Dig Your Own Grave E.P.: The One Last One
[Smitten : SMT 46]
(2000)

Discogs: £21.90

045. Hybrid – Finished Symphony

2010-05-27T21:43:00.000+01:00

I have a bit of a bias against orchestral music. Classical music in particular is heralded as the most technically proficient, the most intellectually stimulating and aurally arousing genre in the history of mankind. Many use it as the yardstick with which to measure every other composed work.

In truth, it’s simply the preserve of the well off, highly educated and quite often snobbish sections of society. Like fine champagne, its only real value lies in its scarcity; its esoteric rules out of reach to most, with access granted only to a certain privileged elite of society. In short, orchestral music is bourgeois.

The problem is, high cultural biases aside, orchestral music seems to capture an almost physically tangible epicness. Producers have many times over tried to capture this and imprint it onto their own work. Usually the results feel forced and uncomfortable. All the classical composition clichés are wheeled out in a cringe worthy effort to make the latest electronic hit serious and intellectual. The classical crew don’t do much better either when they repackage their sound with a sexy mega babe and cinematic video in an attempt to make it edgy and cool and get da yoofs listenin’ to BBC Radio 3 yo.

That’s why Hybrid’s Finished Symphony is so perfectly unique. Recorded in Moscow with the Russian Federal Orchestra, it succeeds because the orchestral and electronic are arranged in such a way as to build on individual strengths and compliment, not to bask in reflected glory.

Hybrid - Finished Symphony by dcp84

Hybrid – Finished Symphony
[Distinct'ive Records : DISNST52]
(1999)

Discogs: £7.23

044. Now! That's What I Call Music 14

2010-05-01T21:51:00.001+01:00

Now! compilations carry a bit of a reputation. If you want the stickiest, sweetest, lowest common denominator chart nonsense, then Now! is a good place to start. While they do contain some ear-wrenching pop howlers, there’s much more to this long running compilation series.

Everyone can remember their first (and last) Now! album. From a socio-cultural point of view, you can even make a good stab at guessing someone’s age from this information alone. My first was 20; a double cassette opening up with the thunderous Dizzy from Vic Reeves & The Wonderstuff. I also remember my parents possessing a copy of 17, featuring Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence. That’s probably where my Mode obsession started to develop!

Now!’s are also fantastically useful DJ tools. When I took my first tentative steps into the world of playing records to other people, a recent Now! was an essential purchase, guaranteeing that you had on hand all the latest pop tunes people may be likely to request.

Since I picked up the very first edition at a carboot sale many years ago I have sought to collect the entire series that was committed to vinyl. Shockingly they stopped pressing vinyl releases with Now! 35 in 1996! With my collection sitting at 14, I have some way to go.

Now! 14 isn’t the strongest in the collection, containing a few too many fillers. Record 1.2 is by far the best side on offer, featuring the simply stunning She Drives Me Crazy by the Fine Young Cannibals. However, as our token audible, I opted for Inner City’s Good Life, since I don’t already own this awesome house tune in any other medium.

Inner City - Good Life by dcp84

Now! That’s What I Call Music 14: Inner City – Good Life
[EMI, Virgin, Polygram : NOW 14]
(1989)

Aylesbury Market: £3.00

043. "...we are all children of Thatcher and McLaren” (Burchill)

2010-04-09T23:10:00.008+01:00

How does one write anything about the Sex Pistols which hasn’t been written before? So much ink has been spilled on one band as to be almost incomprehensible. Without the Sex Pistols music would be completely different. Without Malcolm McLaren, there would be no Sex Pistols. At least, according to some. The apparent importance of the Sex Pistols could stir many a structure/agency debate. Right band right time? Individual innovators? Or, in fuller terms, did the individual efforts of one band irrevocably change music, or were they just the crystallisation of a larger socio-political trend?

Where you fall in the above debate will colour your position in your view of McLaren. The Sex Pistols fraternity seem to be split in two. On the one hand there are those who see him as instrumental to changing the face of popular music for ever by managing one of the most iconic bands of all time. Others regard him as an exploiter, sucking out the ‘true spirit’ of punk, distilling it, and selling it for a tidy profit.

Perhaps these questions are best discussed another time, because despite the answers, a life has been lost. As a track from the collection to remember his legacy, DMM could only really choose one song: God Save The Queen.

Malcolm McLaren
(1946-2010)

042. Pants & Corset – Malice in Wonderland

2010-04-08T22:44:00.003+01:00

Back in 2000, just as the tsunami of Trance was beginning to show the initial signs of commercial fatigue, a new and trendy working class sound was starting to gain popularity: Hard House.

As a genre in its own right, this was something of a blip on the musical radar. Emerging out of the ashes of Nu-NRG and the gay club scene, but taking inspiration from Hardcore and Rave, it chugged away uneasily while what became known as ‘Hard Dance’ slowly and painfully began to establish its self. No one really makes or listens to what people would have called Hard House any more, and fast forwarding to 2010, you realise just how temporally fixed it is.

However, despite its relatively short lived appeal, some absolutely fantastic tracks were produced in its name. Pants & Corset – Malice In Wonderland featured on a Mixmag cover CD by then up and coming superstar DJ, Fergie. The tune is actually a bootleg of Cenith X – Feel and goes to show how much a simple change of tempo and restructuring can really alter the mood and feel of a track.

Delightfully, this is limited to only 500 pressings; yet another example of that most enchanting and precious feeling in record collecting which has sadly been evaporated by changes in technology: exclusivity.

Pants & Corset - Malice In Wonderland by dcp84

Pants & Corset – Malice In Wonderland

[White : n./a]

(2000)

Discogs: £4.49

041. Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster

2010-03-21T16:15:00.004Z

Well, that was an adventure. Normality has returned after my pretentions at becoming a camouflaged civil servant have come to an abrupt halt. The whys and wherefores are best left for another medium, but it does mean that I can now concentrate on vastly more important things; collecting records again.

I’d love to open things up with an uber-cool, rare as you like, underground techno 12” on a limited pressing white label that you’d never recognise, let alone have heard before. However, DMM is about much more than tune spotter elitism. It’s simply about good music.

So what is it about Lady Gaga then? DMM reckons she’s properly awesome. Detractors may write her off as another Madonna, but they’re failing to pick up the delightful veins of irony sparkling through her work. Her persona flirts with the borderline between the serious and ironic so as to leave her audience guessing. Is this genuine or is this all an elaborate ruse?

A more apt parallel would be made by pointing to Marilyn Manson. He sculpted a stage character, an associated vibe and contextualising backdrop, all of which combining to create a product which is more than just the music. Not only this, but both of them seem to be able to push the right buttons in public consciousness at the right time in order to get a raise, though admittedly in very different spheres of influence.

Others claim she’s unoriginal. Certainly, if you listen to a Gaga record, you’ll have heard the elements before. However, much like the KLF, or say Xenomania, she picks and chooses with intelligence, shuffling elements together to create her own work.

As always on DMM, we might be over thinking things a bit. Stripping the analysis away, all we have here are solid synth laden pop tunes with infectious lyrics. Plus, how powerful is that gothic cover photo? In and of its self, this is enough to warrant adding The Fame Monster to the collection.

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance by dcp84

Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster: Bad Romance
[Interscope : B 001382101]
(2009)

Juno: £18.79

040. M&S pres. The Girl Next Door – Salsoul Nugget (If You Wanna) (M&S Extended Vocal)

2009-10-19T21:55:00.006+01:00

The other day I was messing around online, trying to find info about a track off the legendary disco label, Salsoul. Not before long I was listening to youtube videos when I stumbled across Double Exposure’s Everyman. A handful of neurons in the deepest recess of my brain started to tingle in recognition of the tune; I recognised the sample. It took me a full day to remember the tune.

Back in 2001, a funky filtered disco sampling house number hit the charts and stayed at the business end for weeks on end. Cutting elements from both Double Exposure and Loletta Holliway, M&S’s Salsoul Nugget provided an excellent example of how sampling could, and should, be done. The promo brought desperate elements from differing sources to create something new. However, with its success and crossover it was felt that an additional vocal should be added to give commercial appeal. Generally, attempting this manoeuvre offers a poor finished product, but in this case the vocals really add something extra to the track.

For some reason though, its massive success failed to translate to any kind of long term classic status. I do wonder if this track was dropped would the floor remember it? Even if they don’t, surely its own production merits can carry it to a new audience? There’s only one way to find out.

M&S pres. The Girl Next Door – Salsoul Nugget (If You Wanna) (M&S Extended Vocal) by dcp84

M&S pres. The Girl Next Door - Salsoul Nugget (If U Wanna) (M&S Extended Vocal)
[FFRR : FXXDJ 393]
(2001)

Discogs: £6.50

039. Ghost Dance - Gathering Dust

2009-09-28T23:06:00.009+01:00

As the leaves turn delightfully to myriad shades of red, orange and yellow, my running routes begin to feel extensively barren, no longer bulked out with a fleshy green padding. This annual transformation also affects my musical purchasing and playing habits too. As the days get shorter and nights become longer, the techno gets more mechanical, looped and harder, trance becomes deeper, hypnotising but with an uncomfortable edge, all the while 80s post-punk and goth storm up the playlists.

Gathering Dust is the latest purchase in the latter category. Radiating with eyeliner and big haired charm, Ghost Dance dropped into existence during the deepest darkest depths of 1985 when Anne-Marie Hurst (née Skeletal Family), and Gary Marx (née The Sisters of Mercy) got together to write some tunes after leaving their respective bands. The history of their journey can be heard clearly throughout the LP. Expect drum machine rhythms, twangly reverbed lead guitar lines, and lots of lead like work with the bass guitar. In retrospect, this almost seems generic and clichéd, but at the time this was “the” sound to have. I only wish my own musical talents could craft something similar.

Gathering Dust was a compilation LP, collating the bands collected material thus far. Sadly though, this was to mark a shift in Ghost Dance’s sound. Much like The Banshees and The Cure, by the 90’s their releases became markedly more mainstream and pop oriented.

Anne-Marie Hurst, of whom I can’t quite decide if she’s mega-hot or not, though will give the benefit of the doubt, is apparently back in the musical game. With a new line up, she will be performing both Skeletal Family and Ghost Dance tracks with some new ones thrown in for good measure. You can find out some more info here, on her myspace. Be sure to check out the youtube video of a Deeper Blue, she still sounds fantastic, her voice aging very well. I’d be very tempted, but my bank manger is less than supportive, not to mention the fact that I now know how far up the M1 Bradford really is.

Plus it's on my birthday, and will be celebrating in kind.

Ghost Dance - A Deeper Blue by dcp84

Ghost Dance – Gathering Dust: A Deeper Blue
[Karbon : KAR XL303]
(1987)

Discogs: €20.80

038. Woof Woof!

2009-09-21T12:52:00.003+01:00

Rex The Dog Season #1 T's
(2009)

www.rexthedog.net: £ 36.40

037. The Timelords - Doctorin' The Tardis

2009-09-20T14:46:00.004+01:00

This year’s carboot season well and truly slipped my mind. Driving to work on Firday I suddenly noticed the sign for the last bootsale of the year. Aye carumba! As I rocked up late in the closing hour, just as everyone was packing away I though how this was an apt metaphor for my carboot attitude this year.

Idiot record collectors may scoff at the idea of hunting at these events, but really they can be gold mines. When speaking face to face you can strike deals and haggle to increase the value for money factor. Not to mention the joys of wandering around with a nice cold can of DC in the summer sun, trying to figure out how on earth anyone in their right mind hopes to sell an old TV remote for a set that’s probably older than you are.

If you’re after a mint condition first pressing Beatles LP for under a fiver, you’re probably going to be out of luck at a carboot sale, but if you fancy bulking out your collection with good quality mainstream staples at a reasonable cost, it really is the place to go. Charity shops generally have a good selection, but with vastly inflated prices. This is of course fair; I’d never begrudge the starving children of Africa or little Johnny getting a nice bed in a hospice. Online, prices have become staggeringly expensive and artificially inflated way beyond the actual value of items.

Today’s purchase is a good example. I paid 50p for what would be classed as a sleeve G to VG, media VG to VG+. On discogs you’d be looking to pay around £2.50 for a similarly classed item, ignoring of course postage and packing. If I was a capitalist, I’d surely sell this one on and make a tidy profit. Thankfully I’m not.

I’m slightly reticent to blog about the KLF, the masterminds behind this track. With such a rich and interesting history behind them, and the countless essays already written about them, a few words scratched in haste in the afternoon sun can hardly penetrate the depth of such an infamous and influential act. So, let’s just keep things brief. While many of my generation, and especially those of the current generation, may dismiss the KLF as flagrant commercial pirates, pillaging the charts for all they are worth, you really cannot deny they played the system with aplomb and always kept one step ahead of the game.

For my money, they turned a mirror at the burgeoning celebrity pop chart world of the 1980s, analysing what they were presented with and extracting any utility laden elements and using it to their own ends. Yet, at the same time they weren’t swallowed by pop culture maschine. They managed to retained an esoteric element of charm and distinction, and struck at the heart of the culture while remaining somewhat on the fringes. They had a post-modern irony to them, that what they were doing was blatantly uncool, but because they recognised that fact and had constructed another layer of identity around this fact they suddenly became incredibly cool. Of course, this was in a way that if you actually acknowledged this cool, it would instantly become uncool. Whoops, I guess they’re uncool again now. Then again, it’s been years, I’m sure they won’t mind me rumbling them this late in the game.

The Timelords – Doctorin’ The Tardis (Minimal)
[KLF Communications : KLF 003T]
(1988)

Tetsworth Carboot Sale: £0.50

036. Tunespotting In Joburg

2009-09-12T22:15:00.006+01:00

By no small coincidence, good record collectors also tend to be good tunespotters. Admittedly, it does verge on the unhealthy side of obsessive compulsive, but you generally like to know which tunes samples what, can memorise your favourite DJ’s best playlists, absolutely love tune ids, and can usually recognise a song in a club before anyone else, even if it is still just from the kick and hi hat which is barely mixed in. By and large, this makes you think you seem uber-cool when you state with authority, ‘I bet he’ll play so an so next’. Of course, in retrospect, you’re probably not.

After going to see District 9, a superb piece of dystopian political commentary, I checked out the short on which it was based, Alive In Joburg. About halfway though my ears jumped to attention, and within an instant I’d got the sample, Matt Darey’s Possessed. Much to the detriment of the producers, this was not acknowledged in the credits. Once again, Matt Darey retains the award for most under rated and ignored producers in electronic music.

Possessed is awesomely energetic dark and brooding trance number. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t get picked up by all the major DJs despite its superb atmosphere. So, in lieu of any credits, I thought I’d dig out the vinyl and share it here. Shame my pressing sounds like it’s been mastered in a wheelie bin though.

Matt Darey pres. Lost Tribe - Possessed by dcp84

Matt Darey pres. Lost Tribe – Possessed
[Darey Products: DAREY002]
(2004)

Alive In Joburg
Neill Blomkamp
(2005)

035. The Merry Thoughts - Psychocult

2009-09-03T20:31:00.004+01:00

You really know when you’ve fallen for a genre when you start buying outside the cannon. Musos will generally be able to recognise the big hitters in any given popular style, but it’s only when you begin to fly under the radar that you start getting to the exciting stuff.

Enter The Merry Thoughts. Unmistakably, they are heavily modelled on the tried, tested and thoroughly approved Eldrichian industrial groove machine template. Arkham, the band’s front man even does a passable imitation of Von E’s vocals. This leaves us with the obvious problem; are the Merry Thoughts not just a blatant Sisters of Mercy clone?

I’ll let you decide, but keep in mind the following. Vision Thing, the most contemporary to Psychocult, is by far the worst of the three albums. The energy and vibrancy found in much of the Sisters’ back catalogue was only tapped to small degrees in comparison to its lineage. This lack of desire is certainly not a charge that can be levelled at The Merry Thoughts. In any case, we haven’t had a Sisters offering since 1993, is it really such a crime to head elsewhere when we can find something which is so sonically pleasing? Perhaps I’m being generous, but I’m inclined to say that here, imitation is the sincerest flattery.

Psychocult was the final album of a two album back catalogue, and had an all together darker, more cohesive sound than the first offering, yet still maintaining a pleasing balance between synth, guitar and esoteric lyricism. We Love To is by far and away the standout track; an up-tempo, dancefloor friendly bum shaker of a track.

The moral of this story? Never judge a book by its cover. Just because they wear black in excessive quantities doesn’t mean they can’t provide a monstrously danceable tune when they want to.

The Merry Thoughts - We Love To by dcp84

The Merry Thoughts – Psychocult
[Oblivion: SPV 085-61392]
(1996)

Discogs: €10.50

034. Mauro Picotto & Riccardo Ferri - Taotek EP

2009-08-15T09:41:00.006+01:00

Picotto is quite the chameleon, subtly altering his sound to match the backgrounds of popular electronic music. An appropriate parallel given he had a thing for reptiles, naming three singles after various types (Lizard, Iguana and Komodo if you’re interested).

Before 1999, Picotto was relatively unknown outside his Italian homeland. Just as trance was kicking off big style, Lizard - a euphorically laden yet also hard number - hit. Come 2000 Picotto started playing gigs in the UK. As Hard House was the in thing, his sets reflected this. Then, by the tail end of 2000 when everyone realised that as good as the Juno hoover sound was it had already been done to death years ago, his sound morphed in to a mishmash between the realms of Trance, Techno and Hard House.

The big question at the time was, ‘is Picotto techno?’ The answer, like most things in life, was a delightful shade of grey: yes he was, but no he wasn’t. While tracks like Iguana and Save A Soul were clearly chart trance nonsense, others such as Taub, Verdi and Strum Und Drang were much harder to place, sharing from both the trance and techno list of production values. Further fuel stoked the fires of confusion when Picotto would end up spinning all out techno belters such as Gabry Fasano - Logarithm.

No surprise then to hear that around this time Tech-Trance was starting to really establish its self as a legitimate and popular sub-genre. It kept true to trance’s techno roots, but at the same time embracing a less tune-spotter, mainstream friendly format. In the end a modus vivendi was reached; Picotto was Italian Techno. The elitists could be happy their uber-cool and way better than you genre wasn’t ‘poisoned’, while the non-elitists could pretend that they were elitists listening to real techno.

True to form though, as people started switching off from tech-trance and rediscovering what real techno was about Picotto once more made a change, this time to full on techno belters, at which point we get Taotek. While the elitists will no doubt say it’s not techno, frankly they’re wrong, and are just put off by the itinerary of Picotto’s musical travels. Still, there is something inherently commercial and calculated behind it which leaves a sickly sweet taste in the mouth; it tastes good, but too much is bad for you and in the end you’ll just end up regretting it.

And guess what? For the last few years he’s been playing minimal too. Unless you’ve been living beyond the reaches of civilisation, you’d not need a degree to work out that the cool underground sound of the moment is, you guessed it, minimal. So, the more important question which should be asked is not, ‘is Picotto techno?’ but, ‘is Picotto a trend-setter, ahead of the pack in the musical development stakes, or is Picotto a shameless bandwagon jumper, hopping onto “the next big thing” to keep the euros rolling in?’

In the end, I don’t really know. As a self-proclaimed techno elitist on the one hand I want to say bandwagon. Yet on the other hand, with admiration for pop sensibility, he’s clearly an astute individual who has a knack for seeing which way the wind blows. Ultimately, all I can say is that from time to time it’s ok to give into those sickly sweet cravings…just don’t get fat.

Mauro Picotto & Riccardo Ferri - Taotek EP by dcp84

Mauro Picotto & Riccardo Ferri - Taotek EP: Taotek
[Alchemy: ALC004]
(2004)

Discogs: £6.00

033. Judgement Day: XFade’s Judge Jules Interview (2000)

2009-08-05T10:11:00.031+01:00

Judge Jules polarises the dance music community like no other. Everyone has an opinion on him. Everyone has at some point seen him play. Everyone falls into two categories; hailing him as an iconic figure of dance music, or crucifying him as its nemesis. I fall into the former.

This might seem a funny position to take considering that Jules is no longer what I would consider a personal highlight of a DJing roster. Sadly, his current musical position and my own are several stages removed.

However, for the period between 1997 and 2001, Jules’ radio show felt like a personal institution. I was obsessed. I had to listen religiously and study the playlists. And, without doubt, devoid of Jules I wouldn’t have started collecting records, got into DJing, become station manager of my university student radio station, started my own mobile DJ business, or promote my own nights.

While not the most technically gifted, he did extol a number of very important values which I attempted to emulate and have stuck with me though my DJ career: the importance of interacting and engaging the crowd, the wisdom of tailoring your sound to the night and audience, and finally the confidence to explore multiple genres within a set. He was the people’s DJ, playing not what he though he should because it was popular or expected, but what got the crowd going.

With this hero worship came the habit of collecting as much related media as possible. I stockpiled as much as I could. These scans come from Xfade, February 2000. Xfade decided to take on the pretentious hegemony of DJ mag who had monopolised DJ journalism. Xfade had a refreshingly down to earth candour though quickly changed names to International DJ and became a bit more serious.

While I may be somewhat in the minority with my opinions of Jules, thankfully I am not alone. The Judge Jules Archive is a vibrant community dedicated to documenting and preserving the history of the DJ. And, like a number of scans I did previously these will soon join the rest of the archive. The JJA is well worth a visit for anyone with similar views.

Pitchin’, the track alluded to in the article, and the first release under Jules’ north London Hi-Gate alias, seemed the appropriate audio accompaniment to this post. Back in 1999, I vividly recall the agonising wait for its vinyl release after Jules had been spinning it months on end - a situation frustratingly repeated with the follow up singles.

While his music may be different, and my tastes may have changed. Two thing stays constant. Firstly, I won’t ignore or denounce the massive influence he’s had. Secondly, I’m sure that he’s still inspiring many young men and women, just like he inspired me. These two facts still keep me as one of his biggest proponents. I just hope the next generations of Jules’ tutees have as much fun ten years on as I have.

Hi-Gate - Pitchin' (Original Mix) by dcp84

032. Valentino Kanzyani - La Sala Loca EP

2009-08-01T18:16:00.008+01:00

Why I only recently bought this record I’ll never really know; it should have been in my collection from the day of its release. This is potentially one of the best records I now own, looped techno at its finest. It’s that good, I’d even say it’s touching ‘never leave the box’ status. With the funk turned up to 11, it’s guaranteed to get the dance floor hot and sweaty within seconds.

With this in the collection, my mission to own the entire play list of Valentino’s 2004 essential mix, one of the best showcases of funky looped three deck techno action ever, is one record closer.

Valentino Kanzyani - La Sala Loca EP by dcp84

Valentino Kanzyani - La Sala Loca Ep; La Sala Loca
[Recycled Loops: REELOOP12 / White Label]

Discogs: £6.30

031. Reflekt feat. Delline Bass - Need To Feel Loved (12" Club Mix)

2009-06-24T14:24:00.004+01:00

Need To Feel Loved was a feature of the soundtrack to 2004’s, It’s All Gone Pete Tong, a wistful morality play about a DJ who loses his hearing. At the time, I was probably busy being way too cool and elitist to bother with such mainstream nonsense. Films about ‘clubbing’ and ‘dance culture’ never really seem to capture the real essence of it all. However, I’m not so elitist to ignore when I’m wrong. Seb Fontaine, the co-producer, has a habit of popping up now and then with really solid tracks, this being a prime example. Need To Feel Loved is a blissful and relaxing number which straddles the Balearic area between trance and house. Full of summer charm, the recently pleasant weather a few weeks ago made me hunt this one down.

Reflekt feat. Delline Bass - Need To Feel Loved (12" Club Mix)
[Positiva : 12TIVDJ213]

Discogs: £8.00

030. Michal David - Non Stop

2009-06-09T14:15:00.006+01:00

When you go somewhere abroad it’s always nice to return with a souvenir as a memento of your travels. Rather than opt for a poorly moulded piece of plastic tat, or an ‘hilariously’ branded t-shirt, I think it’s much more fun to take a gamble on some indigenous music. While the adage, ‘never judge a book by its cover’ does hold some truth, when you can’t speak in local tongues, appearances and intuitions are the only tools at ones disposal.

In a dusty record shop off Old Square in central Prague, I picked up Michal David - Non Stop. Why? Because if he’s playing a keytar, it HAS to be good. David’s weapon of choice is the Roland SH-101, a powerful and sexy ‘80s analogue. During the 1980s, David quickly climbed to fame in Czechoslovakia, though by 1989 was seen as a yes-man to the Communist regime which was to rapidly lose state control. 1989 famously marked the Czech Velvet Revolution, which produced a relatively blood-free transition from Soviet controlled Communism to Democracy.

The piece lifted from this album is Zastav Můj Čas, a funky up-tempo number full of poppy goodness. As to they lyrical content one can only speculate based on the musical feel of the song. Perhaps this is a blatant piece of Communist propaganda, all profits going to the state. Or maybe this is a ‘look at me now, I bet you didn’t think I had that in me, did you?’ song. Either way, I’m not entirely sure I do want to know what he’s on about. If I did, that would destroy the magic. For now I’ll just imagine he’s singing the praises of state controlled capitalism.

Michal David - Non Stop: Zastav Můj Čas
[Supraphon : 1113 3554 H]

Music Antiquariat, Prague, Czechoslovakia: Kč 0.50

029. Depeche Mode - Sounds Of The Universe

2009-06-05T10:40:00.007+01:00

Sounds of the Universe has sat at home in my vinyl 'in' pile for weeks since release. After the initial listen, I've procrastinated, delayed, excused and postponed sitting down, putting on the needle and writing about it. When a band of the undeniable international uber-stardom calibre of the mode require review, one is slightly reticent that the language at my disposal is adequate to do justice to their offerings. When I wrote about Construction Time Again (007), it felt forced and unnatural. This unease becomes multiplied by my own overpowering love for everything produced by the band. They are my absolute, without question, all time hero worship, without doubt mega-favourite band.

Before Sounds, their 12th studio album, 2005's Playing The Angel marked an amazing return to form. The album was dark, introspective, and sombre, but peppered with flecks of hope and redemption. Admittedly, these themes are nothing new for the mode, having made their name exploring these realms. This time, however, it seemed focused and tight, as if the band had honed their skills, the album gelling together in a cohesive unit. It was done with aplomb, precision and attention to detail, entrenching their image as the dark lords of synth-goth.

After listening, writing, re-listening, and re-writing this post, I can only really come to one conclusion: this isn’t as good as Playing The Angel. While Playing lyrically felt cutting, deep and sombre, Sounds just feels angsty, teeny and generally shallow. Playing was sonically hard and harsh, Sounds is light and fluffy. The album cover seems to echo the quality of the music: generally bland, uninspiring, and grey.

At first I though that comparison between the two was simply because of the shared producer, Ben Hillier. Then it hit me. The real problem is that Playing is my favourite mode album; the next was always going to be a let down. So, is Sounds vintage mode? Not quite, but there are some nice tracks, and well, it’s Depeche Mode, of course I still love it.

Depeche Mode - Sounds Of The Universe: Hole To Feed
[Mute : STUMM300]
(2009)

Amazon: £22.98

028. The Sisters of Mercy @ 02 Academy, Leeds [08-04-2009]

2009-05-15T23:03:00.005+01:00

Expectation can be the cruellest of mistresses. Hold the wrong ones, and it can spoil a night with the potential to be the greatest of you life. Hold the right ones, and an average night can become one over which you romantically reminisce for the rest of your existence.

As hard as I may have wished, I probably wasn’t going to slip through a rift in the space-time continuum and pop out the other side in the Royal Albert hall armed with a ticket to 1985’s Wake concert. Would I emerge at the Royal Albert as a 1 year old? Would I be able to observe, but unable to interact with the environment? Would people flee in horror at the sight of my futuristic Peugeot 306? What would happen if I did something in the past to disrupt the development of my later life?! With such ideas thoroughly banished from my mind, and all metaphysical time paradoxes aside, I went to this gig with the following expectations. Never have I seen the sisters before. As each year passes, my chances diminish proportionally. With Von E around fifty, and a career in the armed forces in my sights for next January, the time to strike was now.

With tickets booked, the car was readied for a trek up the M1 to the birthplace of the Sisters, Leeds. I always knew that Leeds was in the north. But as we passed places which I thought were really really northern, it soon became apparent that what I though was the north, was in fact the (southern) midlands. Three hours later, we arrived in Leeds with a new appreciation of the UK’s geography. After finding the venue and collecting tickets it seemed a good idea to relax in the pub next door. After all, it’s hardly going to be busy save for a few hardcore fans, is it?

A wise man once told me that assumption was the root of all blunder. Turns out he was right. The venue was rammed, with bodies packed to the gunwales. All of whom seemed to be very tall. Despite the rather poor viewing location, the sound on offer was undeniably crisp and clean, with Dr. Avalanche featuring prominently in the mix. This was much to the chagrin of many in the audience, but the relentless thump of synthetic drums sat well with the lineage of electronic influences which have been variously explored in other posts on DMM.

The live sound was only really let down by the sub-audible vocals of Von E. While he is know for mumblings which can strain the listener’s ear at the best of times, on this night it verged on the ridiculous; you just couldn't hear a word at all. Lucky for me I already knew the words. Undeniably though, he does carry an impressive stage presence, prowling the stage, disappearing an reappearing from the murky swirls of smoke. Set wise, the music nicely spanned the sisters catalogue, featuring highlight from all the albums plus a selection of new music, yet to be released (if at all). The quality of performance varied wildly though. Some sounded poor - Alice felt weak and fatigued, while This Corrosion sounded amateur and unfinished. Others sounded as fresh as a spring morning - Dominion feeling like a pristine classic car, while The Giving Ground sounded simply epic.

On balance? Despite, the long trip, feeling very vertically challenged, and the lackadaisical vocals, this was a really really awesome night. Am I simply trying to rationalise an average to poor gig via a rational cost benefit analysis? I don’t know, possibly. But the expectations did, in no way, outweigh the pay off. As such, this will be a gig to remember for some time to come.

The Sisters of Mercy @ O2 Academy, Leeds
[08-09-2009]

Tune of the Night: The Giving Ground / Dominion

Ticket Price: £21 adv. +fees
Souvenir T-Shirt rating: £16

027. Rex The Dog - The Rex The Dog Show

2009-04-19T22:02:00.009+01:00

In the digital age of music distribution, rarity is an elusive value. Thankfully, the digital mode of production has not as yet entirely replaced the crumbling machinery of the physical; new vinyl is being pressed. So, when one of your favourite artists puts out a release on your preferred medium in a limited edition, you really can’t afford to say no.

The Rex The Dog Show, released a few months prior on CD, makes its appearance on vinyl, delightfully restricted to a 1000 copy picture disc pressing. I have at length sung the praises of Rex The Dog: Example I, Example II. As such I’ll try and eulogize conservatively. Rex The Dog is fantastic, as is his album. There, done. Sadly though, the chiptune-esque Italian Blonde, in addition to his remix of Client’s Radio are absent. Regardless of these notable omissions there is only one fundamental message that should be taken from this 12”. This album isn’t about sitting at home. It’s about going out and hearing them on a decent size rig with accompanying visuals, played by the man himself. If this doesn’t whet the appetite nothing will. Every time I hear one of his tunes, I just want to be behind the decks, needle on the record watching the reaction as the tune drops.

With a limited pressing, might I be wise to leave this one in its sleeve for posterity? In record collecting circles, many regard the status ‘unplayed’ as the pinnacle. An entire Beatles back catalogue unplayed would probably be enough to retire on, even at my tender 24 years. This misses the point somewhat. This is collecting for collecting sake. Those who do this would be equally as content collecting any number of other miscellanea. A record collection should be there to be enjoyed, be a reflection of your own individual tastes, interests and musical explorations. Regardless how rare, how expensive or how delicate an item is, it must be played.

That doesn’t mean one should be reckless. Certainly, this will be played on rare and special occasions. Definitely, this will not be taken out to DJ with. However, one of those special moments has been captured and presented here on DMM. The problem lay in deciding which one. I could have gone anthem bashing and chosen the most well know, I could have done the decent thing and chosen an under exposed tune. In the end I just chose my favourite.

Rex The Dog - The Rex The Dog Show: Prototype
[Hundehaus : HUND001VP]
(2009)

Juno: £14.23

026. The Sisters of Mercy - Alice (Dirty Funker Mix)

2009-03-18T22:55:00.005Z

For someone who wears clothes from places like Hennie’s, Mark’s or Gap, I have a rather unusual penchant for goth music. Who can explain why? A sociologist may point to exposure to indelible Eldrichian tones in my most formative years. Alternatively, a psychologist might suggest some primal desire to run around in black all day. Some how, I don't think so. although, now I think about it, a lot of my running kit is black.

In truth, I both find the subculture interesting, almost from an academic point of view, and I also know that some of pop music’s best kept secrets are provided by its black clad dissenters. It’s also often easy to forget that, despite retaining its status as a ‘deviant’ sub-culture, as a genre it did make an indentation into the charts. Both the Sisters and the Banshees, arguably the two most iconic bands of the genre, made appearances on Top of the Pops!

While goth bands are in no way averse from tinkering with synths or embracing the production values of electronic music, rarely do the realms of dance and goth meet successfully. It seems that neither world really finds a common language with which to communicate. It’s either goths trying to make what they think a dance record should sound like or ravers trying to make a record they think goth music should sound like.

When things do work, they are more than worth the wait. After finding a well made fan video on youtube of this track several years ago, I have been on the hunt for it ever since. It has traded at some ridiculous prices. Thankfully, I found it at a reasonable cost and snapped it up straight away. This track works because it manages to find a common language. It doesn’t sound like the original has been distorted out of recognition to meed the demands of the house genre. Similarly, the remix does enough to give justice to the aesthetic qualities of the goth genre, the breakdown being a shining example. The record even looks like a sisters release using very familiar artwork. While I’m sure this would rub up some of the purists the wrong way, I’d love to see what reaction this would get when dropped on a goth dance floor. I have an intuitive feeling it would work.

The Sisters of Mercy - Alice (Dirty Funker Mix)
[n/a : SOM001X]
(2004)

Discogs: £10.99

025. Rex The Dog - Prototype (Casio Remix)

2009-03-17T19:39:00.008Z

Despite the frequent ludditisms which bleed into my posts on this blog, not everything about the digital age and record collecting is so bad. Globalisation provides us with one of the more exciting aspects. To date I’ve purchased records online from: Ireland, America, Belgium, Holland, and now Switzerland. You can see evidence of this in the photos. The fact that I’m buying a record from a British producer from someone in mainland Europe for less, postage included, than it would cost to buy and receive the same item from sellers in my own kingdom serves to highlight both the state of the economy and the ridiculously overpriced postal system we are forced to endure.

Leaving that aside for the moment, despite Prototype being my all time favourite Rex The Dog track, for this I decided to go for the B side. It’s a version which uses only the Casio CZ-320S synthesizer, without any additional production. Those of you lucky enough to own said synth can download the memory tape data stream to play with at home. While the A side will always remain a firm favourite, possibly even making it into my all time favourite records, the B side is a nice oddity. When an oddity is connected to a favourite like this, it’s almost criminal not to have it in the collection.

Rex The Dog - Prototype (Casio Remix)
[Hundehaus : HUND001S]
(2005)

Discogs: €5.00

024. Paul Glazby & The Narcomaniacs - Acid Disco (D.A.V.E The Drummer Remix)

2009-03-13T22:45:00.005Z

I last heard this track late on in an uncompromisingly energetic set at Planet Zogg. This was sadly to be my last appearance at the awesome Sheffield night, which aimed, and succeeded, at joining the dots between trance, techno and psy. Since then, I knew I had to have this in the collection. Yet, due to the quality of the production, and presumably a relatively small pressing, the prices this has been traded online for have been ridiculous. Only recently did I spot it at reasonable price.

Dave The Drummer has an ability to squeeze more than anyone could think possible from the 303, and this track is one of the synth’s finest moments. This is not a pretty record. This is not a happy record. This is a record which will grab you by the scruff of your neck and throw you onto the dance floor whether you want to be there or not.

Paul Glazby & The Narcomaniacs - Acid Disco (D.A.V.E The Drummer Remix)
[Vicious Circle : VCR022]
(2003)

Discogs: £6.99

023. Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin

2009-03-12T16:02:00.005Z

There aren’t many artists whose back entire back catalogue is a must. The Pet Shop Boys, even when they do things badly, do things better than most, and are thus coveted with the above. They are the exemplars of pop music, creating songs which are not overtly commercial, and yet get lodged in ones consciousness with total ease. Their music is intellectually and lyrically pitched just right, teasing you with enough meaning to draw you into the words, but thankfully not deep enough to require a unit on discourse analysis at the nearest university.

Their upcoming collaborations with Xenomania, the production house behind Girls Aloud and the modern day incarnation of Stock, Aitken and Waterman, released later this month is eagerly anticipated by myself, as two of the most exemplary organisations in pop music come together for one album. The Pet Shop Boys appearance on Girls Aloud tracks will hopefully add a needed mark of musical legitimacy for the detractors of the girl group, who deride them as just another throw away manufactured pop outfit.

Yet, despite the praise I have lavished on the Tennant/Lowe duo, they are sadly under represented in my collection, this 7” marking only the third release I own. In the past, I’ve always elected to consolidate the Depeche Mode offerings which, in place of pop sensibility, opted for a less accessible, introspective and altogether darker lyrical and sonic content. With new albums from both the Mode and PSB, perhaps the state of electronic music doesn’t seem as bad as I seemed to think recently.

Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin
[EMI : R6158]
(1987)

Helen & Douglas House: £0.50

022. Joey Beltram - Dragon (Original Mix)

2009-03-10T22:27:00.006Z

Yesterday, I suggested that there were few exceptions to the generally mundane trends in electronic music of recent years. Joey Beltram however is one of those priceless few exceptions. Each record he produces seems better than the last. Making his debut on MB Elektronics, Marco Bailey’s superb techno imprint, Dragon is the type of track I wish I could make if I only had the skills to do so. It’s a brooding and understated techno piece which subtly nods to underground acid house. While it may not be a peak time monster, it certainly will add tension when well placed in the mix.

Joey Beltram - Dragon (Original Mix)
[MB Elektronics : MBELEK 048]
(2009)

Juno: £6.99

021. Allied & Phyon - Osirus

2009-03-08T22:11:00.007Z

Most of the music I buy isn’t new, its second hand. This is rationalised under the idea that I’m ‘consolidating my back catalogue’. Once that’s done, I can concentrate on the new stuff! Realistically it’s because I think that old records tend to be better. With disappointingly few exceptions, the state of contemporary electronic music is neither healthy nor engaging. You can find what I do think is good by looking through the 2008 and 2009 tags. Still, as a record collector who is known to share his collection with others on occasion it is important to keep your hand in with new releases. With the recent visit to Hospitality Oxford in mind, I thought it appropriate to share with you the Drum & Bass sounds which I like: Tech-step, example tune: Allied & Phyon - Osirus. House is to Drum & Bass as Techstep is to Looped Techno. It’s about experimentation, drive, rhythm and repetition. With this genre you are encouraged to use your records a protean resource, from which one is expected to carve your own distinct musical pattern. What draws me to Techno, draws me to Techstep.

Allied & Phyon - Osirus
[Sinous : SIN-LIMITED001]
(2009)

Juno: £6.00

020. Hot Chip & Rex The Dog @ O2 Academy, Oxford [27-02-2009]

2009-03-01T23:20:00.014Z

When you’re behind the decks, it’s important to remember that no matter the quality of the set you have constructed, how amazing the records you choose are, or how perfectly you can mix between them, not everyone is there for the music. People go to a club to have some drinks, look at the girls (or boys), have a bit of a dance, see a named band or DJ they’ve heard in person, or a combination there of. Some people are really into the music, others less so and just have a general preference for something a bit electronicy of an evening out. Some couldn’t care what’s been played, they just want to have what they think is a good time. Sadly, when I’m in front of the decks I can forget this, as I did for a short while this weekend when it was off to the O2 Academy to watch Rex The Dog work his magic for the second time in four months.

First up was Hot Chip. As a band they are averagely mediocre; generally inoffensive but nothing breathtakingly, pantwettingly amazing. As DJs they are much the same. Their set gently bubbled away giving us some nice tunes with a good groove, but just when things felt like they were coming to a boil and about to set the night off there was no reward.

Hot Chip then, certainly not ones to avoid, but not ones spend all your savings on to see one last time before the economy collapses beyond all recognition. Unfortunately, their set was marred by a high crowd ratio of absolute knobbers - people completely off their head on chemicals (of the legal and illegal variety) intent on partying in their own way irrespective of whether they spill their drunk into you, shove you out of their way or collapse all over you in an attempt to ‘dance’. God, I sound so old.

Thankfully, with the big names gone, and Rex The Dog’s MacBook decisively hooked up the sound system, the ratio of undesirables shrank as the crowd considerably thinned. Playing a set which relied heavily on his own productions, this evening confirmed my belief that Rex The Dog live is simply not to be missed. And, hearing a snippet of Kraftwerk - The Robots just before the end was a treat in and of its self (lets hope for some Mel & Kim next time!). Generally speaking, Rex’s tune selection tends to be guided by two core production values: 1) sound great on a loud sound system, and 2) ensure they make people dance. These values guide me when I pack my record box. This is why I like his sets.

I think you’d probably like his sets too. So, look at the pictures below, find out where he’s playing here, before ordering the album and latest single, Bubblicious, here. Finally smile, safe in the knowledge you’ve now got some tunes which sound great on a big rig and are safe bets to get the dance floor moving, plus you’ve booked the privilege to see it done by the man/dog himself.

Hot Chip & Rex The Dog @ O2 Academy, Oxford
[27-02-2009]

Tune of the Night: <--- last tune of night ID --->

Ticket Price: £12 adv.
Pint of Diet-Coke rating: £2.50

019. Hopsitality Oxford @ The Regal [21-02-2009]

2009-02-24T11:50:00.024Z

It’s easy to forget that Drum & Bass is a parent genre. Like House, Techno and Electro before it, D&B has spawned a numerous progeny of sub-genres and styles. Indeed, sub-genres have grown out of sub-genres. Despite sharing an identifiable common ancestry, each of these variations on the theme have their own individual characteristics, tone and atmosphere, sounding incredibly different. Techstep and Neurofunk are my progeny of choice, so I was slightly reticent when the chance cropped up to attend a Hospital Records club night, headlined by Marky, London Elektricity and High Contrast. Still, you never know until you try, right?

Thankfully, giving it a fair roll of the dice was the right decision. The musical texture of the night was varied and diverse and we were treated to a spectrum of sounds from the D&B family. The music was then complemented by both the crowd and the venue. The Regal Oxford is a great place to spend the evening, the open plan of the club makes the place feel big but manageable; the DJ booth afforded a great view of the dancefloor, plus drink prices (a pint of diet coke!) were reasonable for this sort of event. Lovely low res phone photos attached to give you a flavor of the night.

Hospitality Oxford @ The Regal
[21-02-2009]

Ticket price: £16 o.t.d.

018. Paul Glazby - I'm Your Nightmare (Glazby's 2008 Off Beat Mega Death Remix)

2009-02-11T20:13:00.007Z

My position of digital format releases is a complex one. I really don’t like buying them, but sometimes there is utility for me in them. Occasionally it becomes necessary to just bite the bullet and click ‘add to basket’. This is a point in case. Glazby’s 2008 remix of I’m Your Nightmare came out on wav and mp3. It didn’t come out on vinyl, or as far as I’m aware CD. If you want it, you’ve got to go digital - such is the future of DJing.

Having been on repeated play for a good thirty five minutes, this really is Glazby at his best: loud, uncompromising, dirty, dark and with one of the best production sounds around. This even sounds fantastic as a 32 kbit 22khz mono mp3! As with any other Glazby track, this is best played ear damagingly loud in a dark sweaty club left to your own devices to go as crazy as you possibly can.

Paul Glazby - I'm Your Nightmare (Glazby's 2008 Off Beat Mega Death Remix)
[Tidy : TIDYML05]
(2008)

Track-it-down: £1.57

017. Hand's Burn - Good Shot

2009-02-02T16:03:00.007Z

This is one of those ‘they don’t make ‘em like they used to’ tunes, sounding and feeling distinctly of its age. This takes you back to halcyon 1997-1999 period when the commercial trance sound was slowly evolving, but before its noticeably overbearing format had been settled upon. It’s subtle, understated and repetitive; traits which were distinctly British in comparison to the dominance of the Dutch super-saw anthem bashers. Sadly, this is a very underappreciated and overlooked record, one which frequently gets neglected in retrospective discussions. I can’t decide if this is good or bad. It’s a tune which deserves recognition, but also all the more special because it doesn’t have that recognition.

Hand's Burn - Good Shot
[Spot On : SPOT 23]
(1999)

Discogs: £5.49

016. Rex The Dog @ Matter [29-11-2008]

2009-01-23T21:29:00.023Z

Collecting records from the safety and comfort of you home is fun. You can have even more fun by leaving the confines of your house and heading to club to go and hear what other people are playing. Seeing a DJ perform live is important - not only do you get to hear records you’ve never heard before, but you get to have a bop under a nice big sound system too. Another important thing is to make sure you don’t post things on a blog two months after they happen. Oh well, never mind - like Meatloaf used to say, two outta three ain’t bad. Late last year, after much anticipation a trip to the very luxurious Matter at the O2 was in order to check out contemporary house hero, Rex The Dog.

Anticipation is not always a good thing. When you’ve wanted to see someone perform for so long and are such a big fan of his productions, there is the very real danger that expectation will sadly outweigh reality. Thankfully, that was not even near the case. Rex The Dog was simply fantastic, and certainly worth the wait. Opening up with his remix of The Knife - Heartbeats, the short hour and a half to which the second room of Matter stood witness to this impressive event was crammed full of energy.

Rex was awesome and so are his records. Sadly, the only ever time I’ve heard one of his productions played live on a large sound system is when I’ve played it myself. When you’re DJing no matter how much you get into the set there is always a stage of removal between yourself and the party. Hearing for the first time two of my favourite Rex productions, Frequency and Prototype, live, on a large system, dropped by the man himself was worth the ticket price alone.

Rex the Dog is playing much closer to home at the O2 Academy Oxford on the 27th of Feb. Apparently Hot Chip are playing too - but we all know who is more important. Until then, enjoy these photos, and listen to frequency on youtube.

Tune of the night:
Rex The Dog - Frequency

015. Robin-S - Show Me Love (Stonebridge Club Mix)

2008-11-26T20:36:00.009Z

In my (almost) ten years of DJing experience, the practice has seen a number of changes. Radically new modes of music distribution coupled with changes of format, the ubiquitous standards of key signature mixing, and the appearance of laptops are just some examples. Despite this, there are some fundamentals which can never be eradicated. For example, remembering the distinction made between ‘DJs’ and record collectors, one can find a thread of consistency: the desire to acquire music. This is inexorably connected to hearing others DJ.

Let’s set the scene to illustrate. You’re on a night out and you hear a piece of music which, for whatever reason, resonates with you, the fragments of which stick in your mind: on the way home in the car; as you try to sleep; and, when you wake up. If you have any affinity with decks, you can’t just let this fragment fall forgotten from your memory, you have to possess it. You have to incorporate it into your sound, to delicately and subtly alter the balance of your collection with it. Once it’s in your possession the DJs and record collectors diverge. After a period of play, the DJs quickly lose attention, charmed away by shiny new offerings. The record collectors somehow keep hold of this magic.

At this point, we turn to the Stonebridge mix of Robin-S - Show Me Love. This track really is a classic. Many such classics exist on an often hypothetical list of records to be bought when one gets some time, or money, or after a few more pressing records have been acquired first. However, the priorities of such lists frequently alter. After a somewhat dubious night out featuring this tune the gentle organ lead remained stuck on loop in my head. It was then the acquisition desire took control. Once that happens, the tune must be bought.

Robin-S - Show Me Love (Stonebridge Club Mix)
[Champion : CHAMP 12-300]
(1992)

014. Cassidy - Implode

2008-11-21T12:26:00.007Z

In conversation trance as become a dirty word. I could never imagine saying to anyone that I liked, or listened to ‘trance music’. This may seem somewhat pretentious position to take. Perhaps these are the deluded ramblings of a disillusioned elitist. But, the vast majority of music going under the name of trance has no connection to what I feel trance should sound like. If I say trance, people will think something completely different to that which I mean. This isn’t a problem confined to this genre, say you like techno to someone and the first thing they think of is 2 Unlimited. Add a prefix of Detroit or Looped and they look at you blankly wondering which planet you come from. This is somewhat understandable since they are specialist genres thus providing a central reason why I say I like ‘electronic’ music in favour of stating a particular genre.

However, back to the genre in question. I in no way wish this to collapse into a diatribe about how good trance was back between 1998-2001. That has been argued a million times over, and no doubt will be again in the future. And, irrespective of the merits or de-merits of that claim, the debate misses a key fundamental. Instead, I wish this to read as a general comment over general trends in trance production. Simply put, the majority of trance misses the true essence of what trance music should be. We are constantly subjected to over produced, euphoric nonsense: music which is supposed to be emotional, which is supposed to make you happy, which is supposed to be uplifting. That is not trance.

Let me use Cassidy’s Implode as a paradigm case of what is right with this genre. Trance music should be hypnotic, futuristic, and introspective. Music which has the ability to make you close you eyes on the dance floor and draw you into you own small universe, separate from the existence of others. A place where only you can go. It is to the detriment of music, and trance as a genre, that tracks like Implode are in the minority.

Cassidy - Implode
[Intrinsic : INT 001]
(1999)

013. Eufex - You Got It

2008-09-30T11:49:00.010+01:00

Ok, I’ll concede that UK hard house isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. At its best it can capture a raw energy and vitality which begs to be let loose on a large sound system. At its worst, it is a collection of all the worst production clichés one can find in hardcore, jump-up and chart based dance music from the last decade crammed into one seven minute long mind numbing noise. Bad hard house sounds like the sort of music clowns would make if they broke into a music studio on an E induced rampage.

In terms of quantification, the split between these two categorisations is around 20% former, 80% latter. This is probably a generous estimate. You really have to work hard to uncover the gems of this genre. But even these caveats considered, it is a straightforward mystery why Eufex never really made a bigger indent into the UK, and even global, club scene than he did. You may not like what he produces, but you cannot disagree that the man has talent, and what he does produce is done with skill. Single handed, Eufex has been steadily supporting that slim 20%.

So why isn’t Eufex bigger than he is? Politics perhaps? While I don’t know the actors involved, nor have first hand information I am not in a position to accurately comment, but based on the evidence I can see it certainly seems that way. He had releases on strong UK labels, most notably Nukleuz. He had major support on several releases from Judge Jules. Yet in the end the man was forced to retire from the music industry due to lack of funds.

You got it is one of those big room, large sound system monsters. At home, you’re left thinking ‘ok, so this isn’t a bad tune.’ In a club, everything changes; it suddenly makes much more sense. The key point for me is after the rolling sub line ends its climb during the peak of the track and drops back down to the low end. As it climbs you forget just how much presence it originally had, only to be brought back with a bump. Add this on top of the complex layers of efx and percussion which are the hall mark of any Eufex track and you have on your hands a pristine example of what hard house should have been.

Eufex is one of those producers whose discography is so small and yet talent so great, it really is a crime not to have every production he’s made tucked away in the collection. He’s one of those little secrets, not big enough for the world and his wife to recognise, but significantly talented for those who know the difference to nod sagely when you drop one of his many underrated offerings.

Eufex - You Got It
[Ravage : RAV-105]
(?)

012. Felix Da Housecat - Harlot (Justin Robertson Remix)

2008-09-16T11:31:00.003+01:00

Felix Da Housecat is without doubt a talented producer. While his DJ skills are not entirely flawless he is by no means boring behind the decks. Sadly, his A side mix of Harlot just lets us down. Some nice elements are thrown in, but overall the final product doesn’t seem to work. Everything changes when you flip the record over and place the stylus on the B side. Justin Robertson reworks the substandard electro mumblings into a utility laden dance floor workhorse. The sleazy vocals and warm synths retain the feelings of its electro origin, but the four to the floor kick and driving percussion bring into focus the worlds of house and techno. This is where the track fundamentally shines. Robertson has delivered us one of those multi-purpose, all terrain tracks which are at once functional and danceable. For the astute DJ this track can comfortably sit at home in an electro, house or techno set.

Felix Da Housecat - Harlot (Justin Robertson Remix)
[City Rockers : ROCKERS03]
(2001)

011. Mitch & Mart - Get Up

2008-08-10T22:02:00.009+01:00

Elusive, rare, hard-to-find, valuable; these adjectives represent increasingly disappearing values and concepts in the age of digital DJing. Tracks get picked up by the big jocks, spend a while doing the rounds in promo then get released and distributed via MP3 format to the online stores for the world and his wife to download (if they haven’t already after it’s been sneakily ripped and leaked to the internet by a nefarious link in the chain). This is a central reason why we progressively see DJs tending to re-edit and remix tracks for their personal use only; to unconsciously reinvigorate and maintain exclusivity. As back catalogues are being uploaded, we’re rapidly approaching a point were if you can’t find a track to download, the chances are you never will be able to. While I have sympathy with values of egalitarian access, this trend undermines much of the appeal I find in record collecting and DJing. What are we supposed to admire in sound craftsmanship of the work-a-day DJ when we know all the background research he (or she) has put in has been half an hour spent downloading online? How can I respect you as a DJ if this is the case? Does a collection of music have as much intrinsic meaning if it is electronic and not physical? Can something still hold value if it lacks rarity?

Putting these somewhat metaphysical problems of contemporary DJing culture aside for one moment, here we have one track which still clings onto those adjectives we introduced earlier. Mitch & Mart’s Get Up was a regular staple of Mr. O’Riordan’s back in the hazy days of 1999 and early 2000. It’s a funky, but hard, housy number with trancy overtones. As indefinite descriptions go, that’s about as good as it will get. Despite receiving consistent DJ support from one of the biggest DJs of that era, and featuring on Ministry compilation with wide commercial distribution, this never saw the light of day. All that exist of this track are a few white labels which were pressed for promotional purposes. As a result, quite a buzz still exists about this tune. Thankfully, I’m now lucky enough to own one of those elusive copies now.

Mitch & Mart - Get Up
[White : MITCH01]
(1999)

010. The Space Brothers - Heaven Will Come (Lange Vocal Mix)

2008-08-06T16:56:00.007+01:00

One should always be weary of vocal club tracks. Dance music is not about lyrics. For the most part, it’s music without words. If lyrical effervescence and wordsmanship are what you seek, you would be wise to look else where. Inevitably, vocals imply inherent commercial appeal. Frequently we witness a track which has such a large underground following that a attempt to cross over with a release on a major commercial label is prompted. In order to garner popular support some impoverished vocals, often written on the back of a napkin after a heavy night out, are hastily pasted to the top of the track. As such, you’ll forgive such inherent scepticism of vocals. But very occasionally, things work out.

From the off, lets not get confused here. I’m not for a second suggesting this track was released without commercial intent. But as such tracks go, this isn’t all that dire. What makes things work is the vocal intent; it’s designed to facilitate vocals from its inception. Moreover, the vocals have one idea in mind; to strike a pertinent chord with those who choose to ingest certain chemical substances when on a night out. The lyrics centre around personal development and happiness. If your ‘safe place’ had a soundtrack this would be on the playlist. It’s the kind of track someone on a bad trip wants dropped so they can get a handle on things. If it was released now, I’d no doubt be dismissive; the almost sacrosanct influence of late 90’s trance being what it is. But play this one in the early hours a safe distance from other vocals and just watch the arms raise to the sky.

The Space Brothers - Heaven Will Come (Lange Vocal Mix)
[Manifesto : FESX61]
(1999)

009. GDX - Corrosion

2008-07-31T12:16:00.007+01:00

Cover versions of the Sisters inhabit a realm of music which is best left unheard. They inexorably tend to the fantastically sub-standard. Usually, some dodgy goth band takes it upon themselves to pay homage to whom they regard as their spiritual forefather and end up producing some god awful out of tune clamour which remorselessly drains all the inherent acumen of the original, leaving nothing but a spiritually empty din in its wake. They simply miss the point.

To date this is the only cover version I’ve ever heard that is at least serviceable. Amazingly, GDX have managed to surpass the serviceable and entered the realms of common decency. What sets this aside form the pack is that they are one of the few who actually do get it. It’s not another group just trying to echo the Sisters. They have their own sound, their own take, and offer another interpretation. But, what they have captured is the sheer swagger, arrogance, ostentation, pomp and circumstance of the original.

GDX - Corrosion
[Interdimensional Transmissions : IT 18]
(2003)

008. Heaven 17 - Temptation

2008-07-29T23:11:00.011+01:00

All that’s really necessary to describe this 7” is one word: epic. Put the stylus on the record, open up the fader and this track does nothing short of fill the room; be it bedroom, local pub, or 2000+ main room nightclub. Back in the days when DJs talked about records, instead of hard drives, a frequent topic of discussion centred around tunes which ‘never left your box’; music that was so exemplary one felt naked without the option of it in your arsenal when playing out. This is one of those records.

Heaven 17 formed as an offshoot of the British Electric Foundation when Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware ditched The Human League. It wasn’t until this single that the duo found commercial success. Unfortunately, it was their only real chart indentation, and subsequent releases failed to find the same perfect balance between dance floor appeal and yet detouring the unnecessary depths of commercialism.

Heaven 17 - Temptation
[Virgin : VS 570]
(1982)

007. Depeche Mode - Construction Time Again

2008-06-25T22:44:00.011+01:00

Construction Time Again marked Depeche Mode’s third full LP release. At this point, the popier, mainstream cadence of the first two albums was starting to be replaced by a thicker, darker, industrial and inherently more dramatic quality. The progeny of this sound would ultimately come to be so strongly associated with the band. Recorded six years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the cold war leaves its mark etched across the album; a muscular, sledge hammer wielding man focuses the attention on the artwork, reverberating with soviet iconography, while the perils of nuclear destruction and evils of unfettered capitalism are dealt with lyrically. The standout track has to be Everything Counts which was the first single released from the album. To this day it remains a firmly established highlight in live sets. While DM had yet to find full swing, this marks the start of their upward momentum.

Depech Mode - Construction Time Again : Everything Counts
[Mute : STUMM 13]
(1983)

006. Jeff Wayne - The Eve Of The War (Hybrid's Fire In The Sky Remix)

2008-06-19T13:13:00.008+01:00

Without wanting to sound overly pretentious, this piece of music is exactly what this blog was intended to highlight; music which is intelligent, which arrests your attention, and above all, rewards listening. Hybrid take Jeff Wayne’s very familiar score and inject it with dark and gritty sub which just begs to be played as loud as your audio equipment will permit. The result is a sinister, brooding sequence which in my opinion suits the tone of the source material much more accurately. This adds the missing element to the original which, despite Wayne’s obvious compositional talents, descended into an altogether funkier realm. Thankfully, Hybrid yet again demonstrate that electronic music must not be confined to generic samples or unoriginal programming. Brakes would be a far more boring world with out their influence.

Jeff Wayne - The Eve Of War (Hybrid's Fire In The Sky Remix)
[Columbia : WAR 001]
(2001)

005. The Sisters of Mercy - Alice (1993)

2008-05-13T19:05:00.023+01:00

Re-releases are a depressing fact of music. Especially prevalent in the world of electronica, artists frequently feel obliged to ‘update’ a classic song with fancy new remixes. The results are usually unfit for human consumption, going so far as to ruin any appreciation you may have had for the original and simply go to highlight the commercial nature of the music industry. Only one man in the history of music has ever successfully pulled this off: Andrew Eldritch. What beggars belief is the fact that this was done not only once, but twice. Metaphors about lightning and bottles aside, Alice (1993) is a banging tune.

While the black clad purists will no doubt bemoan the fact that 1993’s offering isn’t a patch on the 1982 original, the 1993 release does add something new, different and worthwhile into the mix; dropping the electro feel of the 80s for a more industrial synth and guitar driven sound. Still, no matter how hard one might try, the influence of Doctor Avalanche (the drum machine) means you just can’t escape the electronica factor with a Von record. When you consider the use of repetitive arpeggio guitar rifts, many of which could be given adequate justice recreated on a 303, and the heavy use of synths on both The Gift and Floodland, the Sisters’ sound frequently ventures into the esoteric electronic worlds of drum, synth and DJ than the purists would care to admit.

For example, watch the 1985 Wake concert and ask yourslef what we have here: a bunch of people, probably on all kinds of drugs, dancing like muppets to a repetitive drum beat, accompanied by strobe lighting, smoke machines and lasers. Sound much like many a rave I’ve been to. However, having never had the pleasure, perhaps I’m not in a position to comment. Conceivably there is some deeply metaphysical, culturally significant difference between wearing black and dancing to a drum machine and wearing colours and dancing to a drum machine. In truth though, speaking as someone who is looking at things retrospectively and stopping short of suggesting Eldritch is a frustrated Crasher Kid, I don’t think there is.

The Sisters of Mercy - Alice (1993)
[Merciful : MR 059 T]
(1993)

004. Eddie Amador - House Music (Full Intention Remix)

2008-04-23T09:56:00.011+01:00

‘Not everyone understands house music,
It’s a spiritual thing;
A body thing;
A soul thing.’

With these four simple lines, Eddie Amador captured with such uncomplicated precision one of the most fundamental differences in the ascetic appreciation of not just house music, but electronic music and DJ culture in general. Specifically this clash of beliefs runs as such: ‘I don’t know how you can listen to this crap, it’s too repetitive; boom boom boom boom boom…and they’re not even playing real instruments. Hardly music is it!?'

To which the reply is given:
'I just can’t explain it, you either get it or you don’t. You get sucked into the repetition and it just makes so much…sense.'

Anyone who appreciates or has a passion for any form of electronic music above and beyond making a brief appearance at a shin dig in town every now and then will have had this conversation multiple times with numerous people.

Then again, this could just be the pretentious ramblings of someone who’s been reading too much into nothing as is making a lack lustre attempt to pass a philosophy masters degree. When all is said and done, this is simply a heavy weight house tune to get your groove on to. A tune which will get the electronica stalwarts reminiscing about raves gone by while the new followers are left wondering what on earth this awesome tune is. A tune which demands you to close your eyes, dance your heart out, and experience what house music really is all about.

First introduced personally to this tune by a certain Mr. O’Riodan on an old Ministry Annual, Full Intention take Amador’s original and add the extra thump it was so sorely missing. Unfortunately though, nothing in this life is perfect, and the inclusion of additional vocal ramblings towards the end of this track just add nothing, accept for an unnecessary element of commercialism to a track which already had a high level of accessibility to begin with. Then again, production oversights like this are what two copies, samplers, and the skilful DJ are apt at erasing.

Eddie Amador - House Music (Full Intention Remix)
[Pukka : TPUKKA 18]
(1998)

003. Technique - Sun Is Shining (Mash Up Matt Remix)

2008-04-19T21:50:00.012+01:00

In the annuls of music history, the name of Matt Darey is unquestionably one of the most underrated ever to be associated with the genre of trance. He doesn’t headline major festivals, nor get booked for multi-arena nights. Instead he’s left to consistently produce to the highest calibre, slog away with his own syndicated radio podcast, run his own record label and promote his own club night while the ‘A list’ DJs snap up the peak time slots, and Mr. Darey is stuck with an mired reputation caused by the inclusion of his more accessible productions on old commercial trance mix cds. The man’s never even had an essential mix, yet they offer them out to just about anyone these days. Such is the ‘state’ of trance.

Mr. Darey’s remix of Technique - Sun Is Shining is a precise and exact simile of his career. An absolutely blinding production, but one which people never mention when reminiscing over that ‘golden age’ of trance: 1999. The concept is simple, an unpretentious lead against an atmospheric backdrop. However, it’s the bass line which really makes this track stand out. The programming on the simple square wave patch hypnotically runs through its rhythm before unrepentantly filling up the room in its entirety as the change in notation hits during the peak of the track. It’s sudden, out of nowhere, and leaves you wondering just where the hell did that come from?

Technique - Sun Is Shining (Mash Up Matt Remix)
[Creation : CRE 306T]
(1999)

002. Da Hool - Eichelruck (MG Remix 1)

2008-04-18T17:34:00.021+01:00

Certain pieces of music just don’t sound right at home. No matter how loud you play them, no matter how much you compensate the deficiencies in the lower end of the audio spectrum, nothing you can do will sufficiently emulate the experience you participate in when you get to hear it on a club sound system. The problem is, some tunes need to be felt, not just heard. Without the deafening power of kilowatts upon kilowatts of speakers and amps, your body will never be able to feel the air vibrate with the dramatic tones of a piece of music resonating deep in the caverns of your chest. Not only that, but they need an accompanying context; the sweaty, mob filled dance floor rhythmically gyrating in time to the music, the seizure inducing stupor of flashing lights and a room temperature, heavy with humidity, which wouldn’t be out of place several hundred miles closer to the equator than we currently are.

Marc Green’s delivery is one such piece. Placed at home on a turntable, it just doesn’t feel right. It’s the sort of tune which begs to be put in the record box and blasted out to a receptive audience at the first opportunity. It’s the sort of tune you probably wouldn’t choose to listen to on your own, but would unquestionably upend the dance floor when dropped at an opportune moment in a club. Using the characteristic squelchy, deep, nasal sound Marc Green is associated with we are left with a dirty, unashamed piece of dance music which taps into the primal raving instincts that lie at the heart of any good electronica night. But what kind of night? It’s a record which just resists classification. The skilful DJ could easily drop this tune into a house, trance, or techno set with equally effective results. Unfortunately, none of this is going to make any sense until you hear this one dropped in a club.

Da Hool - Eichelruck (MG Remix 1)
[Additive : 12AD056]
(2000)

001. Introspectre

2008-04-16T21:58:00.003+01:00

I’m a DJ. Well, that’s not really true by modern standards. I’m an old fashioned DJ, which means I’m really a record collector who also happens to play his records to other people on occasion. Unfortunately, the decks of the world are populated by DJs. Record collectors are a dying breed.

Being an old fashioned DJ also means I’m some what of a luddite. The records I collect really are records; 7” and 12” circular slabs of vinyl with a tiny groove and accompanying sleeve, not any kind of digital format mysticism. They peacefully sit in regimented line after regimented line, waiting their turn to be picked out from the crowd, chosen specifically for their specialised and unique acoustic characteristics.

If record collectors are a dying breed, then by logical extension, record collecting must be a dying art. This is a shame. The same sense of discovery, temporary completeness, success and accomplishment accompanying the location and purchase of a record for which one has been searching since time immemorial is sadly being lost. This blog is an attempt to preserve and share some of those sentiments which are steadily being forgotten.

As new treasures work their way into my collection, you’ll find them discussed here. Most of the time you’ll find them accompanied by a MP3 you can listen to. One may of course question the legality of this. I feel this is morally justifiable. Most of the music featured will be several years old, if not substantially more. There is no direct download link. The quality is intentionally low; you won’t find anything encoded at a higher rate than 32kbps, 22Khz, Mono. Not at all worth keeping. That being said, if you happen to be involved in the creation or distribution of anything which has been featured and do not agree, then please contact me if you wish to have it removed. This will be done immediately.

Then what’s the point, you might ask? The point is to give exposure and advertisement to some absolutely amazing music which may have been lost, forgotten, overlooked or abandoned. The point is to explore the talents of artists and their finest tracks. The point is document and discuss my record collection as it grows and develops, its overall sound and character changing almost imperceptibly with each new addition. This is commendation and exploration, not exploitation or theft.

And, if you like what you see, read and hear, then do the same as I have done; find your nearest second hand record shop, trawl the music section of your local charity shop, scan the back of the local paper for vinyl sales, attend record fairs and car boot sales, frequent the worlds of Ebay, Juno and Discogs. They are waiting out there for you.