Hi guys, as you might know I'm actually working with Claude Von Toolongnickname on a Warp records history, so I'm mostly listening to Warp artists right now.
Here are some of the "non Warp" tracks I've been listening to a lot lately, nothing really new, sorry.
Let's begin with Moins De Soins by Dupatronic, a track I've been listening to a lot these last two months. I don't have a lot to say about them, because they don't say much about themselves, apparently they're two french guys doing filter house.
Chances are if you know your stuff about electronic music, you've seen this logo. It's the watermark of the legendary Warp records (which was originally called Warped Records, changed due to it's difficulty to make out over the phone.) Founded in 1989 by Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell, they and their new label set out to change electronic music forever, and they would, later becoming home to acts like Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Autechre and Boards Of Canada
The label's first release (Forgemasters' "Track With No Name") was limited to a 500 copy pressing and was distributed in a borrowed car to record shops all over Sheffield. Despite these humble beginnings, Warp's first commercial success would come less than a year later in 1990, with the release of LFO's self titled 12" (with a Purple sleeve by The Designer's Republic) which would rise to number 12 in the UK singles chart. Reports flooded in of club soundsystems blowing out due to the low frequency basslines throughout the track, which only added to it's popularity. This release marked only the beginning of Warp's legacy in the world of EDM.
Why am I telling you this you ask? well, a fan requested I do a best of Warp post, but it soon became apparent to me that one post was simply not enough. So over the next few weeks/months/years/so on Myself and fellow new writer Here will be documenting the history of Warp records, and showing you their landmark releases. but enough talk, enjoy the sounds of LFO's classic, 'cause this is what the next few are going to sound like :)
I try not to get too personal in my blogging - I'm sure you'd all love to hear about my day-to-days. So, let me tell you about my recent history, indirectly.
So-Me draws a nice ass, eh?
I'm a fan of this EP. A big fan. It truly shows the off-color personalities of today's komputerartizt's, and boy oh boy, is it off-color. In fact, I should probably mark these tracks for poor language, but if you work in a monastery you probably wouldn't end up here anyway.
Let's start with the Original Mix. It's in your face, loud, and generally all over the place, in a yummy sort of way. Strangely, this happens to be my least favorite track on the EP. But even so, it's still pretty good and has carved out a nice little spot for itself in my collection. Hey, it adds to the immense variety this album brings to the table.
The DatA remix sounds like a combination of Justice's Valentine and, well, rapping. A weird observation, I know, but that's just what I thought while first listening to this track. It has a nice balance, pleasant backbeat which, combined with the sort of "yelling" in the lyrics, sounds almost magical. This one was a homerun.
How many times can you say "bitches" in a song? If you're Rynecologist, a lot - like a lot a lot. This track happens to be my personal favorite from the bunch. I really like the synth line (which sounded like the best of the Crookers), and the vocal cuts weren't overdone. Honestly, this would've done just fine labelled as the original.
Hehe I like this title. J'mens Bats Les Couilles is a heavenly 4-minute flow of pure french. If foreigners bother you in any way, shape, or form, skip this one. Likewise, if the sounds of the French language ring pure joy in your ears, you'll like this one. It has a sick beat, lyrics (I think), and a generally nice form to it. It's up there with Find Me in the World for sure. Nicely done.
It's been a few weeks now since the somewhat disappointing results of Kavinsky's Nightcall remix contest. Not that the 1st and 2nd winners weren't excellent (we're not even going to TOUCH on 3rd. I'll get mad), but I had honestly hoped that the contest would yield some serious bangers. Nightcall is easily Kavinsky's most 'wimpy' piece of work to date. It's slow, doesn't have much energy, and doesn't really move. I fully expected to hear some BRAAWWGRAAAWCHRUNNNCH electro remixes somewhere in those top 3, but alas, not so.
I had already decided before the results were posted that I would go through the submissions and pick a few of my favorites to share here on Ilictronix. After the disastrously disappointing Fan's Choice winner, I decided there was no doubt about it; some of the truly epic remixes had to be shared with the public so that the morons who picked the 3rd place would realize that they'd picked the wrong one. Not that Ilictronix really has the power to cow that many people, but it's still a nice thought.
No idea what the artist name is on this next one. They titled it, but didn't use their name in the title... which is really a shame, because this is definitely my favorite of the bunch. So great. It should have won something.
Today I will be taking you into probably one of the coolest, grooviest house musicians from Germany. That's right. Though Germany is infamous for its Happy Hardcore and Trance music,It does have quite a few house artists out there. The one i'll be talking to you about is probably the most well known to Daft Punk fans: Boris Dlugosch. Now most of us remember him for his extended club mix of Digital Love, which imo was excellent. but its not the only thing he has done in his time. Before I show you some tracks, I guess he needs a proper introduction.
Boris Dlugosch is a House Music Producer born in Germany who is well known for his funky/deep house tracks and mixes. He regularly goes by another alias with a club friend Michi Langes, known as BMR. Boris started the music business in 1992 under another alias with a few other partners and came out with his first single,Controversy during the mid point of that year. As time progressed, Boris began producing/collabing with other groups such as Spiller and Princess Superstars, not to mention doing about a dozen more singles and several remixes for other groups.Today, he is one of the most sought out remixers because of the various famous groups he mixed for such as royksopp and A-Ha. Thats about all the info I can really give you. Anyways, on to ze tracks.
I hate to make a trend out of taking extended breaks from Ilictronix - but I've been kinda busy.
Forgive me?
Really?
Aw geez, you guys are the best.
Anyway, a few weeks ago I backed up Boys Noize's DJEDJOTRONIC at The Assembly, here in Cape town, South Africa. I've never been the biggest fan of his music, to be honest - but it was a pretty good show. Again, like Aoki, rather samey at times, but he really won me over when he dropped 'Gare Du Nord', which I love. He's also a totally nice guy, which is refreshing after finding out that A1 Bassline was a total douchebag.
Can't win 'em all I guess.
Either way, I figured I'd continue the trend of posting my set from the night, so enjoy.
Now, this being a real bumper edition, I figured I'd win some sympathy by letting you all know that, yes, July 21 was my birthday, and - of course - I was really, upsettingly hungover the following morning.
But, in a moment of purest philanthropy, after laying in bed and groaning for a few hours, I decided to start converting one of my more unusual finds: New Beat - A New Style of Music - an ominously titled Belgian dance record.
It has some superb tracks, including 'Acid Queen' by Major Problem, whom you might be more familiar with as Praga Khan - from Lords of Acid - or, if you happen to be insane (and a twelve year old from 1995), you might remember him better as one half of The Immortals - best known for the Mortal Kombat Theme song.
Also of particular interest are the tracks 'New Beat Mind', 'Ibiza' and 'Total Recall' - the latter featuring a fairly typical 80's Kraftwerk sample from 'The Robots'.
Anyway you look at it, it's a rare and interesting artifact from a seldom talked about genre - an unusual crossbreed of down-tempo techno and acid, Euro and Detroit.
I recall a while ago that there was multiple requests for some hard electro, well I am here now to appease your desires. I think these tracks have enough personality to introduce themselves, so ill keep the track descriptions to a minimum.
First up, we have a killer remix of The Prodigy’s – Baby Got A Temper, The main attraction to this remix is that it maintains many core elements of the original. I personally love this track, but I’ll let you form your own opinions.
You may remember this guy from his remix of Kavinsky’s Nightcall (which was one of my favourites to be honest). This track is quite hard with soft elements floating subtly in the background.
This Pitbull remix is actually quite enjoyable. My only problem with it is that it takes over a minute to get into the decent stuff (which is a quarter of the song), then it has a minute of awesomeness followed by another minute of no electro... This intermission would be great if it was building up to a magnificent end, but alas no. (Sorry about bad quality)
And how could I go on with out playing some Dada Life. I love these guys, anyone who can make hard electro more enjoyable to the masses deserves a high five from me. Robix is a little known DJ from Brazil, and he gives the original a slightly harder atmosphere.
The Count & Sinden are finally releasing their first album called Mega Mega Mega (Mega's on it as well) the 16th of august. Start looking forward to it with this minimix.
Tracklist: Do You Really Want It - The Count & Sinden feat. Trackademicks After Dark – The Count & Sinden feat. Mystery Jets Desert Rhythm - The Count & Sinden Hardcore Girls - The Count & Sinden feat. Rye Rye Roll Out – The Count & Sinden feat. 77 Klash Elephant 1234 - The Count & Sinden Hold me – The Count & Sinden feat. Katy B Mega - The Count & Sinden Addicted To You – The Count & Sinden feat. Bashy Panther - The Count & Sinden Llamamé – The Count & Sinden feat. Coolio Iglesias You Make Me Feel So Good - The Count & Sinden
You've probably heard of the newest Twitter squabble between Deadmau5 and Rusko. I'm not here to take sides as I don't like Lack Of.. or O.M.G. I also hate the way Mau5 spouts stupid memes like at 12 year old and Rusko's new changed style that he was pressured into, which doesn't suit him at all. But enough whinging about the state of things now, instead let's have a gander at the older material that I liked by these new found Rivals
I think it's just a tad petty, I hate whenever something like this happens because suddenly everyone and their mum becomes a music snob, banging on about how dubstep's terrible, or how prog. house is crap (choice quote "Mau5 does better Dubstep than Rusko" which is wrong AND stupid) Try not to get caught up in this silly little scuffle dear readers, and drop a comment telling me which tracks you like and all that, the usual :) Not going to make a "Cat & Mau5" Pun... -Claude Van Foxbat
Alright guys I feel like posting something cool today. No worries, its not trance. Just a few tracks this week i want to share with you. I should warn you though, some of these tracks may be a little different from the general electronic/progressive house I usually do. Not to worry because you will definitely like them :) Let's get started,shall we?
We all remember the Daft Punk Remix of Life is Sweet yes? Probably one of my favorite remixes ever and my fave from Daft Punk. Since its been posted on here before, It's only fair to put up the equally entertaining original mix. I can't help but love it.
Next up we have a track straight from Adult Swim Singles. I don't usually like the tracks they put on there, but when I listened to Singles of the Week #4, I couldnt help but fall in love with this tune. I loved it so much, I checked out more songs from this artist and became addicted to those as well. I'll keep you from guessing and just show you the damn track.
What is this post about ? Well it's about violins in electro, something I've been wanting to talk about since I'm here.
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about violins and electro is SomethingALaMode.
SALM is two french guys doing something called electro-string. One cello, one violin, some effects unit and a laptop. The key to success in my opinion.
Those three songs will give you an idea of how good this guys are.
Okay so excuse my not posting for... a month. I've been busy fighting world hunger and revolutionizing dance music, you know, the usual.
Now excuse me even further while I post something totally scandalous.
Ilictronix readers, followers, and staff please don't disown me.
I have a confession to make.
I love RuPaul.
For shame, for shame.
Okay as a gay man I'm pretty much obligated to like RuPaul regardless. But it can't be denied that she, regardless of her over-the-top flamboyancy, is capable of churning out some amazing house and electro dancefloor grooves. Her most famous single, "Supermodel (You Betta Work!)" is New York house at its finest, but is only remembered for its homophile novelty. Her latest album ("Champion") was released over a year ago to almost no commercial attention despite its sheer awesomeness. Folks, you may hate RuPaul and drag queens may disgust the hell out of you, but these trannies do not disappoint in their sheer grooviness.
This first track (a duet with Lady Bunny, another fabulous femme performer) is house in its rawest element. From the minute the beat hits you can tell this track is a hit; the beat that could be from Discogalaxy, the Strictly Rhythm-esque piano roll, and the vocals straight from a West Village whorehouse all culminate in a track that would make anyone's booty automatically and vigorously shake. The hook and vocals are cheesy--so are 90% of all house vocals. Shut up and dance. You won't regret it.
Unfortunately this is true. At least the 'packages' bit.
"Let's Turn The Night" could be better--it's a bit sparse and a little too noticeably auto-tuned--but a power ballad nonetheless. Inspired by the legacy of Harvey Milk, RuPaul weaves a web of inspiration and power which, when intermingled with synths and a beat that stomps, creates an indelible experience. Anyone who's ever been kept down--by any system, person, nation, body or institution--should be able to relate to this song, if only because its message is clear: "We are the light / you're never alone." Kinda beats "We Shall Overcome" in terms of inspirational motivation, if you ask me.
This next track is beyond cheesy--but crazily infectious. "Jealous Of My Boogie" is dancefloor dynamite and electrohouse euphoria. Yeah, the lyrics are fairly standard--the breakdowns stereotypical--the beat archetypal--the ending anticlimactic. It's still been on endless repeat for the past three days on my Samsung. The music video is just icing. Just take a listen--then spasmodically wave your arms in the air and work your body to the beat. At least that's what I did and it seems to be working well.
DON'T BE JEALOUS.
Okay I think I'm done sassing the ilictronix viewership. Enjoy the music, expect another post in... less than a month hopefully.
Aussie electro has a certain experimental vibe which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. It’s this vibe that draws me to it again and again, and thank god it does because its drawn me to a new artist that’s everything you want from Aussie electro plus more. Enter Cosmo Black!
Cosmo Black are a Melbourne/Adelaide trio consisting of Cosmo (Bass/Synth/Vox/Vocals), James (Drums) and Nick (Guitar/Vox/Vocals). Starting originally as a solo project of a Melbournian named George, the project was originally titled ‘Cosmo’. As the solo project evolved into a trio the name was changed to ‘Cosmo Black’ and George took the alias Cosmo as his own. They have had a relatively quick rise to success and show no signs of slowing down. In just two years they have evolved from bootlegs and demos, to supporting another Aussie gems;Miami Horror on their tour and Cosmo's even DJd with the members ofEmpire of the Sun.
Their first single ‘When Night Becomes The Morn’ is best described by the band themselves as: “Erratic, looped, analogue synths combine with pounding electro-latin percussion and falsettos calling for new beginnings to swirl and build into a strange, euphoric, pop mess.” But enough with descriptions, ‘If music be the food of love, play on’ – William Shakespeare.
The DCUP remix gives the track a slightly more mainstream vibe without losing the characteristics of the original. Starting off with a deep beat, original elements start to seep through and remain lurking in the background throughout the remainder song.
Love it? Want to support it? You can buy their tracks from Bandcamp and pay whatever your heart desires. Keep individuality alive, support up and coming artists!
EDIT: I added an easter egg to the post. Dubstep for thee who is smart enough to find it!
had to crank this one out before summer ends :P Enjoy this pick 'n mix post, where I hope to have something to tickle every one's fancy (and also may or may not be a regular feature :D ) so, let's start with the Summer themed tracks:
Something new: Malfunction, reminds me of the old house we used to get in the 90's over in jolly old England, and Mr. La Roche should know, being English and all :P. Perfect summer tune. 'Nuff said
Something Old: same as above, reminds me of simpler times when all I cared about were crisps (that's chips for you yanks :P) and lemonade before life kicked in. well, that and you cant have summer without some quality house :).
I love this next track to bits, (you've probably heard of BoC if you follow Deadmau5's twitter or FB) I play the album it's from every summer and it never gets old. whack this one on when the sun starts to go down, or up, and you'll see BoC really are something else.
and this is where the summer theme stops, and it becomes "Tracks I think you'll like" first up is some vocoded bliss by Chromeo, given a nice dollop of dub by Skream. Don't worry, it's chilled. No filthy wobbles in this post :D
Remember the remix competition Röyksopp held for tricky tricky a while back? I found my stash of them tucked away on my HD. somehow I'd forgotten about this absolute gem. A huge 8 minute progressive house number, adds an extra layer of epic over the already amazing vocals. You'll never want this track to stop, I know I don't
and that's my summer summed up (bloody hell there's alot of Alliteration in this post :P) wherever you are, enjoy what's left of it, stay safe, enjoy the music. also if you want to hear my daily thoughts and whatnot, follow me on twitter: www.twitter.com/ClaudeVanFoxbat
As I laid on my back, staring at the slowly moving star-scape above, it seemed as if time stood still. The Milky Way cut a white gash across the open sky, and the cool breeze and warm air of the Eastern Washington night calmed me. A meteor streaked across the sky, disappearing behind the trees my mother and her siblings had climbed as children, and their father and his siblings before. A warm fuzzy feeling filled my heart; this was all mine. All the stories, all the laughter, and all the wonderful memories of good times and bad. As I thought about comforting ideas of the future, my consciousness slowly drifted away, and I found myself swarmed by dreams of the long, hot day's events. Never will I experience such peace so long as I am in the city. Nowhere... nowhere but a clear, warm July evening in Eastern Washington.
Of course... I watched about 2 hours of batman cartoons on my laptop before folding it up and pulling up the covers. I cheat when I sleep out under the stars. Thank goodness for extension cords.
Ok so I'm going to do something many of you (especially Prez) may hate. I promised one trance post and today this promise shall be fulfilled. Of course this wont be any shitty tiesto or Armin van Buuren(though I like him. Don't judge me). No, this group is less known and probably would have been a garage band had it not been for the beautiful voice of the singer. Today, I am talking about 4 strings. Who are they? You'll find out soon enough.
4 strings is a mildly successful group of two DJ's,Carlo Resoort and Jan De Vos (predominately Resoort), as well as a singer,for a short time at any rate, Vanessa Van Hemmert. 4 Strings has made three albums,several singles and a plethora of remixes. This group exploded because of Vanessa's singing on their first single, Take Me Away (sound familiar? I posted a mashup of it and Glenn Morrison's Contact a while back) Vanessa would sing up until 2004, when bad rumors leaked out her not singing on several 4 strings tracks, eventually leading up to her leaving. 4 strings still continued without her and produced their third album, mainline, with guest vocalists helping with their songs. 4 strings continues mixing and making tracks to this day, though they have lacked the same amount attention they used to have with Vanessa. I think that's a good enough bio, now on to some tracks. Caution: You may fall in love with Vanessa's lovely voice. You have been warned.
YES, finally after nearly 5 weeks of waiting, blue balls, red tape and copyright worries, it's here. Bie-bloody-elle. Aside from sounding an awful lot like Bieber, this new(ish) EP from Electro veterans Les Petits Pilous is great. (and we needed some hard electro posted due to increasing demand, and this is the newest thing I have :P)
Bielle is the fourth and latest offering from French duo Les Petits Pilous, whilst it sports some Power-esque artwork, don't be fooled. it's still LLP filth at heart. Starting with track 1, Bielle.
It starts off slow and lumbering, with a lil' filtered loop, which then speeds up and un-filters gradually over the next 20 or so seconds, resulting in probably the fastest electro song I have (even more so after the breakdown at 2:00) it's quite dirty to boot, LLP showing off their Electro prowess throughout. The intro and tempo leave alot for DJ's to play around with, it certainly feels like an intro song to a set, and there's alot of potential for using the breakdown 2 mins in for mixing opportunities. my only complaint it that it's a 3 minute song and just over a minute is intro, so by the time you get into the track 1/3 of it is gone 8/10
Les Petits Pilous - Bielle [Click to OBEY]
Next up is by far the weakest track of the EP in my opinion. it feels like it was crammed in at the last minute to add length to it, the sample very quickly gets annoying (even more because it's used for the ENTIRE SONG) and the synths don't add much to the already awful composition. I had to force myself to listen to it all the way through to see if it gets better. It doesn't 3/10
Les Petits Pilous - Booty Pills [God Hates Blogs]
This track, Russian Forest, along with Bielle are the electro powerhouses. Booty Pills is godawful and Goog is more experimental. No fuss. No mess. Just electro. I often mistake this track for a Prog. House track when it comes up on shuffle, but then that little mechanical bleep pops in and about 10 seconds later that grinding synth hits and everything makes sense, look out for this one in future mixes or sets, it's set to be a sleeper hit. 9/10
Finally, Goog. This one's a bit odd coming from Les Petits Pilous, it sounds almost like a Fake Blood-esque track, feels sorta I Think I Like It cut up and sampled to hell and back. The only thing that gives away it's by LLP is the... I don't know what to call it, but that little sound effect that's from the Para One mix of My Head :P. I does get more electro-y later ('specially around the 2:00 drop) the overall sound of the track and the outro lend themselves niceley to be mixed in with a Prog. House track or Fake Blood style tracks instead of straight electro it's a nice change of game for the genre, but there's still plenty of high energy bits to go mental over. 8/10
Les Petits Pilous - Goog [download to click]
As much as I'd love to give all of these out for DL, I can't. maybe when BNR stops caring I'll put them up. (Here's hoping they don't bust our chops over streaming it, it's been 4 months since it's release). Overall, a Decent EP with only one track that's not very good, two if you don't like cut up samples and whatnot. and, a preview of the entire EP if you dont want all 4 players going:
They can't copyright everything, -Claude Van Foxbat
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