Birthdays Bonus

Joe Goode - Birthdays (2008)

First things first - apologies for taking such an extended break. Every Summer I give myself a list of things to sort out and then never end up actually doing it, but this year was different. Nothing exciting unfortunately, jut a lot of tedious file management that I'd been putting off for ages and catching up on some other things. The downside to that being I am now behind in other areas, this blog included - so it goes.

At any rate, I have a fair few things planned for this month to make up for it - starting with the annual tradition that is the anniversary post. By happy synchronicity both me and the site share a birthday, I like to mark the occasion with a slightly longer than usual post with some of my recent favourites, so let's get stuck right in.

Kicking off with Ceephax's Christmas gift to us in Baddow Moods. In the past I've characterised Ceephax's output as a bit tongue-in-cheek, which is true - you only have to look at the videos for his tracks to see he's having a right laugh embracing the cheese. Baddow Moods is pretty far from that, it's a gorgeous experience throughout, delving into more Deep House territory, sometimes even ambient at times but still with the eponymous Acid backing it up. Here's one of my favourites from the LP and the longest of the bunch in Ventlaris - to the surprise of no one reading it's this spacey number with flecks of acid as mentioned above and I could live in it's space forever. I may have to give the whole LP a write up one of these days.



There's going to be a theme for this month where I get to nerd out a little, and you're going to see a little bit of that here. Chikada Wasei, one of the men behind the tracks for the Cyberia scenes in Serial Experiements Lain has been making new additions to the series since 2018, with Layer 4 being the most recent one. Wasei is a talented producer, and importantly very flexible with the productions that make it onto these albums - while there are glimpses of the thudding Techno of the original OST, there's a variety in genres on show on the modern Cyberia-s. Really they deserve their own post (another one I'll have to get around to). For now, here's a choice bit from Layer 4



Case in point when it comes to variety, there's a companion album to Layer 03 titled After Hours which is predictably a lot more laid back than the main entries. A cool concept in general really, as Wasei turned to the community for contributions, the Lain community has a massive amount of fan-made music so it was nice to see it recognised. Not to say Wasei was totally hands off though, he too has a few contributions and collaborations throughout the track list, the introspective Last Present being a highlight.



A little bit of my last Bandcamp Friday pickups next, they were a little piecemeal this time around despite me having an extra month to prepare. Garoad dropped another single recently, they are infrequent but always a highlight (but also he seems to be busy with other soundtrack work so I can hardly complain!). Fight On Beat sees a return to form, if like me you just love the VA-11 HALL-A OST then you'll be right at home here. It wastes no time getting right down to it, opening with the exact sounds that put the VA-11 HALL-A tracks on my radar. Surprisingly not the only Fighting Game themed track I picked up on BC Friday either, but that's a tale for another day.



Some Rei Harakami next, and another from my recent BC Friday. I've been slowly drip feeding myself Harakami's works over the past few years in order to make the most of them - I adore Harakami's sound, so the longer I can hold onto having 'new' works to listen to the better. One of his tracks - Pone - is one of my favourites of all time, so it's only natural that I give a little shout out here too. Unrest is his debut, and as much as I like to say he perfects his formula on later albums, most of it is already here from the get go - that playful electric piano that underpins Harakami's sound is still there, it's just trimmed in Techno on this first LP. To the surprise of no one, the more downtempo bits are my favourites, starting with the short and sweet Wreck, an almost prototype of Pone mentioned above, simply gorgeous.



To make up for that one being a little short, one I've talked about before but is the first that comes to mind when thinking of this album - the lovely, dubby Bioscope. It sounds a little different from the usual E-Piano stuff I mentioned before, but the production sensibilities remain the same and shine through quite nicely. I will say if you've enjoyed either of these two, go right ahead and look up Harakami's discography and you won't be disappointed, as mentioned earlier [Lust] is my favourite of the bunch, but you can drop the needle pretty much anywhere and get some more goodness going on.



And finally, one last selection from one of my recent loves - Yagya's Faded Photographs is a wonderfully sedate experience, one that works best when listened to as one whole thing, though this makes it tricky to pick out individual pieces, especially as so many of the tracks flow together. The one-two punch of No Matter What and Melting In The Morning Sun have been my most repeated of the bunch. Here, the instrumentals almost take a backseat, which makes the vocal flourishes shine that much brighter. The album is quite accessible when compared to the Yagya output that I knew from the early 00's - the super stripped minimal where 6 minutes is the shortest runtime. The vocals are a welcome addition for me, they do wonders for the atmosphere and I think really complete that slight melancholy as shown on the album's cover. I've seen some say they aren't a fan, but also a fair few say the production is very similar to the albums before this (albeit minus the vocals) - if that's the case I'll have to pencil a few of them in to check out come Winter.



And that'll be about all for today, thanks for sticking with us for another year, and as I say every time - here's to many more. Stay tuned for more writings this month, some of it can't be on Bandcamp players so I'll have to try and arrange something else - apologies in advance. Shouldn't be too long mind you, until then - as always - stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Of Cults and Crystals

For the first time in a long while, I picked something up from Bandcamp when it wasn't a Friday. I should do that more often really, the main reason I don't is I normally get side-tracked until the Friday reminds me to pick up some records. But I digress, label Creme Organization was offering a 40% discount code, so I went digital crate digging once again.

Legowelt was the one on my radar this time, like so many artists I have a smattering of tracks from compilations that marked their first appearance in my collection. I had a couple of freebie albums that Legowelt had put out, but I figured it was high time I dive in. Crystal Cult 2080 has been in my wishlist for a while, one of those albums where I heard the opening track and said to myself "oh, I'm saving this one for later!" And then the list inevitably grows and it gets a little lost. Saying that, I do like it in cases like this where I come back to the album, and my feelings towards the first tracks are still the same.

We have to talk about the elephant in the room first of all, the obvious occult trappings. There's something I find charmingly humorous about the album art - the image of a robed wizardly figure just going to town on some synths is brilliant. It doesn't reflect too much on the tracks content bar a few vocal samples, but I think that's OK, it can be easy to overdo something like that. Of course, if you're after something that taps into that a little more - electronic music and the occult have a long history that could be a post all on its own: Mort Garson's self described electronic impressions under the Ataraxia moniker, to the modern resurgence of fantasy synthwave dubbed 'dungeon synth' to name but two.

But let's get into the album itself, starting with that first track I've mentioned a few times already, Experiential Awakening. You will know from the get go if the album is for you, as an opening Awakening does an excellent job of setting the stage. From its 8:08 runtime, the combination of hypnotic backing and that deliciously thick bassline and of course, those previously mentioned occult-y vocal samples, it weaves the forms that will make up the rest of the LP.



Track 2 lays it on even thicker, sporting the title Ancient Rites Demoni Mundi. While that intro had me enticed from the get go - I was a little on the fence about it for a while. The backbone being the suitably hazy descending melody which can get a little tiresome, but that's mitigated by the action happening in the background again that keeps things interesting. Not meaning to come off so negative mind, I've come to love parts of it in time - the little breaks that introduce lovely analogue elements starting around the half way mark are lovely, and there is some fantastic synth noodling in the last quarter too.



The techy titled Excalibur R8MK2 starts off a lot more intense than anything so far, but it soon settles into that same hypnotic groove, the shorter runtime once again helping it stay a little fresher. Infused with that high tech sound I love so much, this one has been a mainstay since I picked it up, I find the "Drink from the chalice" line creeping into my head disturbingly often. There are times where the album feels like a 'best of' from an extended jam session, definitely thematically appropriate given the aesthetic surroundings - that's something I've also found with Legowelt's Teac Life, though Crystal Cult feels tighter overall (and also clocks in at about half the length of the extended Teac Life too, which no doubt helps).



The album's opening quarter is where it's strongest for me, which is why I've gone for the opening 1-2-3, but there is plenty more to get stuck into if you like this little slice. It's been a little odd to explore this side of Legowelt, my previous exposure being Disco Rout from the Tangent 2002: Disco Nouveau compilation (which I adore, being the electroclash fiend that I am) - but in fact, coming back to that track after spending some time with the Cult, it's not a million miles removed. I'll have to see about looking into Legowelt's older works at some point and see if that rings true across the board. That'll about do it for today, I'll be back around soon enough with more but until then, as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Wrapping Up 2022

Left it a little late to do a year's end roundup, but I'm going to return to a tried and tested tradition: the good old fashioned track dump. I never really felt comfortable posting a sea of players with no commentary, so this one is going to be broken up a little with thoughts in-between, so apologies in advance if it gets a little long.

First things first, if you're after a real Nostalgia-fest, BBC Radio 6 has you covered. That right there is a playlist straight out of the 2010s featuring many of the Ed Banger crew and other indie darlings of the time. It's available here for about a month if you're interested, tho with some limitations if you're not in Europe but I can't confirm that

Michel Majerus - Untitled (2000)

Now with that out of the way, let's take a look at what I've got. I've made no secret of my love of Eurobeat over the last few years - the sugared up evolution of Italo Disco colliding with J-Pop. I had a fair few lined up, but on listening to them back I whittled it down to just a couple - it's pretty hard to find legal streams of a lot of them anyway and in hindsight some of them were a little bit OTT. Which is an absolutely stupid thing to say I now realise, as the whole point of Eurobeat IS that it's over the top! Keeping it low key to start with, Switch really highlights those latent disco traces inherent in the genre, which makes it a good dipping in point for the curious.



I've managed to skirt one of the more silly parts of Eurobeat with these two selections, being mostly written by Italians, you do get some... interesting lyrical choices that don't quite make a whole lot of sense. On that note though, Eurobeat does a fairly decent job of maintaining a good ratio of Male to Female vocalists, it'd be very easy for the genre to fall into the latter much like the Vocal side of trance did way back when. That said, there are definitely tracks that evoke that same kind of euphoric vibe - enter So Fragile



Some Tofubeats next, I picked up some of the man's soundtrack work a while back and had been meaning to check out his works ever since. His Bandcamp is weirdly bare with releases there but not for sale (that clearly used to be as well), and releases like this one here that don't appear on Discogs or anywhere else really. Synthesizer is a prime example of why I felt the need to check his work out, a real head bopper of a slow jam, topped with liberal use of Vocoder to make the whole package complete for me.



Going total nostalgia bomb for this next one, it comes back out to play every so often, and rightfully so as it's damn good. Potentially one of the finest remixes ever from the era - Thomas Bangalter (1/2 of Daft Punk for those not in the know) spins out what was a ~1 minute interlude from DJ Mehdi's Lucky Boy into one of - if not the - electro house anthem. It hurts a little knowing that we won't hear any more Mehdi productions, I always liked the man's style and was excited to see where he'd take it, but what better way to celebrate the man than belting this one out.



Let's go a little deeper next with some Soichi Terada. Terada's return under his own name was a release I was extremely looking forward to, I first got turned his way off the heels of the (legitimately fantastic) Ape Escape soundtrack, and was pleased to find even more Drum & Bass on waiting for me. But the man actually got his start making (equally brilliant) House tracks - and that's what Asakusa Light is all about - paraphrasing Terada's own words: he's trying to capture that same feeling from those days. And on tracks like Double Spire, he really does. It helps I'm a real sucker for pitch bends though!



Speaking of capturing the spirit of yore, we have DMX Krew, who has been dwelling in that space for a long long time now. Now with DMX, you often will get some cheeky playful self aware elements in the mix, evoking old school electro of the early breakin'/electropop era, it's a genre than can be quite funny after all so why not embrace it? (see also: Chromeo). Party Life doesn't really do that, at least on the title track. The thing comes out a little more like an electroclash record, lamenting the shallow nature of the said Party Life. But you don't have to delve that deep into the analysis if you don't want, the Dub mix has an excellent groove on it and is as relentlessly catchy as the original.



Couple more to round us out, starting with what is one of the oldest digital files in my collection - Misstress Barbara's Never Could Have Your Heart. A relic of my first serious forays into the world of electronic music circa the early 00's, the first version I had of this was a naff one I pirated at like 96kbps or something like that! But even then, I was totally entranced with it. That melody (which I would later learn is pretty much a cover/sample of Move D's In/Out) is just gorgeous, and the beat work is surprisingly frantic for a House record, with machine gun hi-hats and flurries of handclaps. I reckon it'll be about 20 years I've had it in my collection next year, and I'm still as in love with it as I ever was.



And finally, the one track I post every year without fail, The Knife's New Year's Eve. Taken from the soundtrack to the film Hannah Med H, it's from around the Deep Cuts era so is very much in that extremely electropop style - the one with super sweet synths and the steel pan work as heard on tracks like Pass This On. Does the track have anything to do with NYE? Not really, it plays in a scene in the film that takes place on the night which is the reason for the title. Still, it's become a bit of a tradition, there was many a year where we'd play this while getting ready to head out for the night. And now it's a tradition here too!



And that'll about do it for now, it did end up getting a little long but nothing too ridiculous! That'll be all for this year, but rest assured I'll be back soon enough in '23 with more. Thank you for sticking with us this year, we've had a couple hiccups along the way but I don't know anyone who hasn't. I hope you've found some tracks here to enjoy and will continue to do so in future - and of course, as always: Stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

A Wild Week (and a bit)

Well, here I am again. And what a whirlwind week of weirdness it has been, both locally and internationally (and continues to be, at the risk of jinxing it as it's only midweek) I haven't really had time to sit down and write anything of substance, but I have had the chance to do plenty of listening in the meantime so I'm not short of ammo to detail - so silver linings and all that. Let's take a look at a random smattering of tunes.

Wayne Thiebaud - 24th Street Intersection (1977)

Picking up some leftovers from that spacey post that I still haven't gotten around to making with a little piece from The Exaltics, remixed by Gosub. Fitting actually, as I first got turned onto The Exaltics via Gerard Hanson's E.R.P. project, which in turn put me onto the SolarOne Music label, co-founded by the man behind The Exaltics Robert Witschakowski. E.R.P is one of my go-to examples for exactly the kind of hi-tech smooth electro style stuff I'm talking about - honestly, this one could probably make that list as it very much fits the bill, albeit a little more bouncy electro than the usual stuff I put under that space label. This mix of I.M.O.E.H. is catchy as, and full of lovely little touches to keep it fresh, I'm a sucker for pitch bends and the like as you all know.



Another one that's been sat on the backburner for a while that I haven't had an opportunity to talk about yet: the remastered soundtrack to a 1994 FMV point and click adventure game Burn Cycle. And If you've learned anything about me from my postings in the past you'll know that from the description alone that is supremely my bag. The soundtrack was actually included with the game way back when, but I imagine it's a touch hard to come by these days, making the remastered version all the more important. I'm not entirely sure how this came up on my radar if I'm honest, but probably through the suggestions for one of the many techy playlists I maintain - I do however remember the first track that was recommended, which was Zip. It had me gripped with those twinkling opening stabs, which builds to a thumping techno peak - twinned with the samples from the game itself, it certainly sets a befitting atmosphere.



Keeping on that trend of easier to access reissues, a slice of deep house that found its way onto my wishlist next. Late Night Basix Vol. 2 is originally from 1998, but this this version is from 2021 thanks to this reissue on Ghostly International's sub-label Spectral Sound. I've been on a bit of a deep house thing lately after diving back in to my collection of Guidance Recordings material, and half remembering sampling some of the tracks on here I figured it might be just the thing to scratch that itch. And right I was, the whole EP is a nice ride, I've gone ahead and picked the fittingly titled Forgotten Track this time around: it wastes absolutely no time at all getting down to brass tacks by hitting you with that classic 4/4 straight away. From there it's a lovely journey of lush pads, catchy stabs and all manner of things Deep House, just when I find it getting stale there's a little switch up to make it fresh again.



And that'll be all for this time, a little more scattered than usual I feel like, but that's also kind of how these past couple weeks have been so it's apt if nothing else. Still, hope you've found a groove to enjoy amongst these choices - I'll be back soon enough with more, but until then - as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Retro wRitings

Postponing that planned spacey sequel for a bit, as with many things I've just been a touch scattered and working on other things - the best laid plans of mice & men and all that. I figured I at least owed something to tide y'all over in the meantime, and what started as a quick one/two track post became a little longer. So let's dive in shall we?

Frank Stella - Eccentric Polygons - Effingham (1974)

I've almost become a mirror of my younger self lately, dipping back into the world of emulation and nostalgia fuelled by the content creators I've mentioned in previous posts. Helped along as well by the Retro Achievements website I've been playing old favourites, weird imports and things I missed. That comes in handy from time to time though - case in point here as Kohta Takahashi has released an album on Bandcamp that is a look back at the Ridge Racer Type 4 soundtrack through a modern lens. As with Rom Di Prisco's similar look back at their old work there's a definite charm to it, and fans of the original OST will very much find things to love here. It's not a simple re-tread though, as Takahashi notes on the Bandcamp page this is more about capturing the vibe of Type 4: the whole genre gamut is on show here from the expected House to Dubstep and then back again. Surprising no one given my recent posts, my favourite of the bunch is this could-have-been menu theme.



It ain't all low-poly stuff though, I've also been revisiting Midnight Club 3, which dedicates a large chunk of its soundtrack to Electro, Detroit Techno and Drum & Bass (the latter not really surprising as Moving Shadow and Rockstar have been close since GTA2 back in '99, and they appear again in MC3). The Midnight Club series has serious pedigree when it comes to soundtracks: the theme to the first one was classic Techno/House anthem Strings Of Life. The second game dug deep for its intercontinental USA, French and Japanese settings, treating us to an absolutely choice selection of House and Trance - including some of Thomas Bangalter's solo work!

All of that to say I've been flicking back through my archives and checking out more techno and Drum & Bass. These are usually one of albums or EPs that I note down and then get lost with time, but make for a nice surprise when you find them again, like digging out an old jacket and finding some cash in the pockets. Enter The Silicon Dawn from Dan Curtin. I can't remember how I came across this record in the first place but it doesn't take long to see why it was on my list, from the title and cover art alone I could tell it'd be the kind of record for me. Lovely melodic techno with that sci-fi edge, if your taste is at all similar to mine then a dive into Curtin's work will do you no wrong. Once again surprising no one, I've gone for the track that sounds the most like it could be from Warp's {Artificial Intelligence} Series - It Tastes Like. Absolutely gorgeous stuff.



Now onto the second half of that upper paragraph, as we visit the D&B side of things. you'll be surprised some of the things you can find on Bandcamp! It's gotten to the point now where no matter how obscure the thing I'm looking at is, I'll give a cursory search just in case it's found its way there. Inperspective Records is one such example of that, having most of their backcatalogue available on there. I've noted down some bits and pieces from them over the years, and it's always a nice surprise when I look them up to remember why. In keeping with the theme here, Stature feels again very much like a credits or menu theme! Admittedly not quite as Drum & Bass as the other parts of the EP but you can still hear flecks of it now and then. Check out the A-side Windchime for some more intense breakbeat action, contrasted with some smooth hi tech vibes.



And that'll be all for this fairly quick writeup, we wandered around a bit but I think I kept it mostly on topic (though behind the scenes I have since fallen down several more rabbit holes that may or may not result in posts). That sequel post I mentioned last time is still in the pipeline so keep an eye out for that but until then - as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

It's well 'ot

The cruel irony of working with computers is that they too generate heat - this vintage meme pretty much nails it (just replace the gaming part with 3D and video rendering). It's well documented I don't get on well in the heat anyway, but this post isn't going to be me sitting here and complaining at you (but it was important context for the songs on show!). Let's go ahead and get some suitably sweltering songs on the go.

Charles Sheeler - Golden Gate (1955)

Kicking off with a bit of Ceephax, Sidney's Sizzler always seems to crop up quickly whenever you search for anything related to the man, no doubt helped by the wild homemade video he made for it. This was the first track that came to mind when thinking up tracks for this post, beyond just the obvious name it does sound like Ceephax's equipment is on the border of melting throughout - especially with that stumbling breakdown at 2:10 making it sound as if the whole setup is breaking down. A touch more intense than the other Ceephax tracks I've posted in the past but nothing too wild. I've not had the chance to listen to his entire discography as of yet but in my experience there's a strong melodic element that keeps it from going into full on 303 arpeggio territory.



I've been back on a bit of a Soichi Terada thing ever since my last post, and the man has plenty of works that would fit this theme. I've gone with the timeless classic Sun Showered this time though, it's the instrumental mix of one of his breakout hits: Sunshower with Nami Shimada from 1989. I have nothing against Nami's vocal, both versions of the tune are stellar in their own right - but the instrumental really lets Terada's work shine through. I do think it feels a bit empty without the vocal in parts, but I've also mentioned it a ton of times in the past so I figured the instrumental gives a little bit of variety too. Check out the whole compilation this is from if you like the vibe, Sounds From The Far East is a fantastic 'best of' Terada's House works.



Keeping in a similar sort of vein to play us out, we have techno mogul Ian O'Brien. I initially knew him from a spate of remixes and of course Desert Scores, which opens with the homage to his influence taken from Underground Resistance with Mad Mike Disease. I checked out some of his more recent work a little while ago and The High Frontier EP quickly made it onto the ever-growing wishlist. It's a great little 3-tracker going from Tech, to downtempo almost IDM and full on Ambient across the tracklist. They are all lovely tracks but Harmonix really starts the thing off on a high note - it's a distillation of all my favourite bits of the Detroit sound. I say it every time a track like this comes up but I'm just real glad that tracks like this are still being made, absolutely gorgeous stuff.



And that'll about do it for today, the heat is set to continue for a couple of days so I might be able to fit another one of these in before the week is out - in true fashion for me it'll probably be a return to the more downtempo side of things! Hope you find something to love in these selections as I have, and as always - stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Soichi Terada - Asakusa Light (Album Overview)

Flipping it 180 from last week's post, here we're talking something that is new! And also something I've not done in a long, long time to boot - an album overview. Much less of a review than my previous ones and more of a sort of first impression kinda deal, even though I've heard a couple bits from it and posted them already. At any rate, let's get stuck right in. Soichi Terada returns under his own name with Asakusa Light - a House record that's a throwback to the man's early works. If you're at all familiar with them then you know what to expect, but if you're not: Expect thudding kicks, deep house basslines and deliciously retro brassy flourishes as heard here on a Terada production from 1989!

Tracks like that weren't my introduction to Terada however, like many others it was his Drum & Bass work for the soundtrack to the original Ape Escape that pointed me in his direction - a gig that he got becuase one of the folks working on it was a big fan of his Sumo Jungle release. A solid release in its own right, and home to some of my favourites from his D&B side. The intro track is a preview of the whole album and if you like what's on show there, seek out the whole thing, you won't be disappointed. The soundtrack for Ape Escape is one of those that is sort of emblematic of the era - the late's 90's where everything was super sleek hi-tech low-poly. I'm more than willing to admit a lot of my love for it is tinted with nostalgia - I will stand by some of the tunes on there being real nice even on their own though. But enough history, let's talk about this latest piece!

Terada certainly hasn't been a stranger - he's consistently been putting out tunes on his own Far East Recording label for many a year by now, both by himself and others. I've been a long time admirer of his work but it can be a little tricky to get hold of from time to time. After a re-issuing of a bunch of vintage tracks on a compilation fittingly called Sounds From The Far East on Rush Hour Music, there's been a renewed buzz about Terada and his House works - which leads us to now, as Asakusa Light is released on the same label.

I was excited to get started as I have loved the two sample tracks out there already, and with 9 more ahead of me there was surely plenty to enjoy. Silent Chord starts things off with a nervous sci-fi style synth - it does take a little while to get going but it all pays off around the 1:33 mark when the proper bassy stabs of old are unleashed. I can see some being frustrated that it doesn't build to a proper House style payoff, but as an introduction to the experience I think it works real well - it sets up the next few at the very least. I've already talked at length recently about how I fell in love with Double Spire from the get go, I just adore the pitch bends on show, and the whole thing is almost designed to have all my favourite Deep House elements in it. Just wonderful.



The same goes for Bamboo Fighter - the first of the two preview tracks. That one plays out more like a piece from his early Far East Recording album with Shinichiro Yokota, but still with feet firmly planted in the world of Deep House. Perhaps leaning a little too hard into that eastern influence for some but I think it's pretty tastefully done, Terada certainly has experience merging the electronic with the traditional sound to a more extreme degree with his Omodaka project after all.

Diving Into Minds continues the trend, grabbing me from the offset with its swirling intro. I've seen a lot of people say that this album feels quite videogame-y in parts, it's a comparison I'd been trying to avoid just because I didn't want folk to come in expecting either the chiptune of Terada's Omodaka project or the out and out D&B of Ape Escape. But as the album goes on it gets increasingly difficult to ignore that connection and, thinking back on it now, it would be foolish to suggest that wasn't at least a partial influence on the process for Terada. The textures and composition on show here most certainly feel like they would be right at home in that early 3D era, none more so than the brief incursion of some old skool piano stabs at 2:36 that feel like they belong on a 'Results' screen.



It's a theme that continues, with Marimbau feeling like a menu theme for one of those slightly weird psychedelic puzzle games of the era. With the stripped back approach and liberal use of of-the-era drum machines, it certainly imitates the technical limitations of early CD audio to boot. This one in particular reminds me a little of the throwback influence artists like ThorHighHeels display, in that it's a very earnest display of love for the aesthetic - though THH's is more firmly rooted in the videogame world, Terada's work here is more of a love letter to house with some of that flavour as an addition.

I don't meant to give the impression that it's formulaic mind you, going by Terada's own quotes from the Bandcamp page it's been quite the experience getting back into the groove of making again: "I didn’t even know what I thought about myself five years ago, and the mental metabolic cycle seems to be faster than I thought. I tried different methods, including digging up my old MIDI data and composing by remembering old experiences." - a quote that I totally empathise with. Takusambient is the most obvious of the tracks that show that influence, the 8-bit lead synth should clue you in on that from the get go. I gave the album a quick run through on mobile a little while back, but I ended up stopping around here because I figured I'd give it a run with better output - and I was right, tracks like this reveal a lot more depth now I'm sampling it on a decent set of headphones.



Next up we have a real highlight - a sort of cover of a tune called Soaking Wet circa 1995 - can't say I've heard of it before (shoutout to that one Discogs reviewer that clued me in on that!) but one that certainly makes sense given Terada's wheelhouse. That goes double for the remix of it from the same LP, which feels very much like Terada's own productions, albeit a little more bouncy I feel. I do like it when artists do that, gives yo u a real insight into their influences and points you in the direction of stuff you might not have heard before (See Felix Da Housecat's version of Space's Magic Fly for one good example). Soaking Dry is, like the source material it's referencing, a much more upbeat beast than the previous examples. It nicely bridges the gap between the Deep House we've heard so far and this new direction: Terada's style is very clearly on show here with lush background instrumentation and choice flourishes throughout - as the intro gives way to the 4/4 about the 15 second mark you can't help but start toe tappin' along with it.



One final highlight for the road and the sole collaboration piece for the LP - Runners. In hindsight I was maybe expecting a couple more collaborations to appear on here as there have been many a notable one between Terada, such fellow Far East Recording label-mate Shinichiro Yokota. Still, from the credits alone this one was looking promising as it features Manabu Nagayama, who twinned with Terada on Low Tension in 1991, one of the tracks that made the cut on Rush Hour's reissue compilation Sounds From The Far East. The two are clearly having a lot of fun here, after a slightly sleepy intro it's not long before we're back in the House yet again. The real highlight here is the super old school MIDI as hell pan flute melody, I couldn't help but crack a smile the first time it came in, it's just such a perfect encapsulation of the album's MO and most importantly - as fun to listen to as they probably had making it.



Here's hoping this means more from the man in the future, (though like I mentioned back at the top he's never really stopped either!) I've loved hearing him return to this sound. It's a great little album, one that runs the risk of getting a bit stale due to the simplicity of it, but that could also be a factor of me giving it a pretty intense listen over the past few days as I write this - still, I've been enjoying my time with it, it's had me groovin' around the House (no pun intended!). I like to think of it as the musical equivalent of a garnish, chuck these in your playlists to get a little bit of variety in there - the preview tracks are probably still my favourites, but there is a lot to love here.

I did catch myself thinking at points that Terada might throw in a vocal at some point to complete that Sunshower connection - and part of me still thinks some of these tracks would benefit from that, but at the same time I admire the man for just going back to basics and making a pure House record. If he decides to do the same for his D&B work somewhere down the line I will be all over that - perhaps a reissue of Sumo Jungle, or the slightly more obscure Acid Face? The latter of which I highly recommend if your favourite is his Ape Escape OST work, the two are very similar!

And that'll be all for this time, it's been a while since I've done a big post like this! It's been fun but took a little longer than I expected, I have something else potentially lined up for later this week so I should be back before long. Until then, as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Last minute checks

Laura Knight - Sundown (1947)

Oh boy it's that time of the month again where Bandcamp Friday has done sneaked up on me again. I've actually been pretty good about it last couple of times so I can't really complain too much - it is my fault this time. With a return to tradition, let's all gather 'round the fireside as I try and find some choice selections from my ever growing wish-list that catch my ear (and hopefully, yours as well).

Kicking off with more from Soichi Terada and his new upcoming LP Asakusa Light. I'd wish-listed it before I even listened to any of it because Terada is among my favourite makers ever since I heard the original Ape Escape OST as a wee one. This album sees him return to House once again rather than the Drum & Bass that introduced me to him - but the man has a long history with the genre and he's damn good at it too. Enter the newest preview track to drop: Double Spire - I was pretty impressed with the last one, Bamboo Fighter and figured I'd take a look at it again, and let me tell you that Terada did not disappoint. Right from the get go, he launches a surgical strike on the deep house loving parts of my brain with a simply gorgeous, luscious pads - and then not content with just that, some swiftly applied pitch bends are there to win me over completely. Garnish with some deliciously retro piano stabs and it only goes from strength to strength. The whole thing isn't out until the 12th of December so I might not pick it up this time around, but if the rest of the LP is of this standard then I may have to do a full-on in-depth dive into it on release. Simply wonderful.



Other than that, I've been keeping up with the trend of the last few months where I've been picking up smatterings of Electro in the old school style. I've mentioned a few of them in passing already, but a new one this time is more from Versalife with the finale of the Night Time Activities series. After loving the first one I listened to the second entry and was kinda lukewarm on it, but there may be time yet for it to grow. Still, didn't want to write off the rest of it without giving it a go, so I put part 3 on just for completions sake - and I'm enjoying it much more than the predecessor, the opening track is right up my alley. Billed on the Bandcamp page as "Dark, sinister and intense!", the first track is anything but: very much of that sleek hi-tech school of sound that you might hear from the one The Other People Place album for example. I think spacing my electro stuff out like this has been a great idea, it can get a bit same-y at times just due to the nature of the genre - but much like my love for that particular brand of early 90's ambient techno stuff, I love to immerse myself in this kind of sound every once in a while.



Other than that, it's been a whirlwind of jumping down my list and sampling bits of it here and there, from the claustraphobic glitch techno of Zamilska to reissues vintage Japanese Ambient records and back again. It's very easy to burn yourself out doing this, I know as I have done it many times over the last year or so and even came close this time.

But to the surprise of no one, I ended up back in IDM territory - I have had a well documented long love affair with the genre (and a hatred of the name). I've added plenty of artists to my wishlist from various early 00's compilations I've gathered over the years and a fair few of them are still active! Martin Haidinger is one of them, with an impressive list of credentials: one half of Abfarht Hinwil and founder of Toytronic Records, the source for a lot of those compilations I mentioned. Back in April he released a new album under the Gimmik alias, Cloudwalker - I posted a track from it back when there was only one available for preview but this was my first time with the whole thing.

I wasn't dissapointed, the track that was up for preview way back when, Carters Final Transmission is very much in my favourite style of IDM - balanced glitchiness with these crisp and flowing synth accompaniment that has an edge of melancholy to it. I've been a little lukewarm on some of Gimmik's past releases but I'm very into this one so far, it sounds very much like the stuff from those early 00's compialtions I was talking about which as I already mentioned isn't a downside to me at all, I will always and forver love this style. Carters Final Transmission might still be my favourite of the bunch, but I've picked out opening track Short Wave Memories to highlight for now as it's probably the most evocative of that old style I mentioned - there's lots of lovely squelchy synths and catchy melodies scattered throughout if you're as big a fan as me. Keep an eye out for more pieces from this one in the near future.



And that'll do it for now - I've got some other things lined up to pick up but I'll figure I'll do a follow up post to this one as it might change a bit between now and then. Not sure if Bandcamp Firdays will continue into the new year, the line from BC themselves just said "Will continue for the rest of 2021", it'll be a shame if they stop but I do understand, they are a company after all, waiving your profits once a month probably isn't ideal. Even if they do stop, I'm thankful that I was personally able to support so many artists that I love and make plenty of new discoveries along the way as well - and I hope you have too! On that note, I'll wrap up here - As always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Bite-sized Bits 10

Katsushika Hokusai - Nihonbashi Bridge in Edo
Something new for a change. I was pleasantly surprised by an announcement email in my inbox that Soichi Terada had a new album coming out. Well, not too surprised really, he's been consistently releasing things for ages now, most recently another instalment called Dodarebachi from his Omodaka project that merges house, electronics, chiptunes and traditional Japanese Enka. Instead the surprise this time comes from the release not being on his own Far East Recording label, but rather on Rush Hour Music, who put together that compilation a few years back of Terada's House works called Sounds From The Far East.

This new release is billed as a throwback to that very same house work as well, to steal a quote from the Bandcamp page from Terada himself: "a new album that sounds like a reissue". And based on the preview track Bamboo Fighter, he's not wrong - that bouncy bassline is immediately evocative of Sunshower, one of his early hits with Nami Shimada - with other nods to his Deep House works with some gorgeous synth sweeps as well. A real treat if you're like me and have a real love for this kind of sound, as much as I'd love to hear more Drum & Bass from Terada, I'll happily check out more of anything from him.



The full thing isn't out while November 12 - I might be still pretty busy by then so perhaps don't expect a full review, but you can certainly count on a couple of tracks from this popping up here once it's released. As always: stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

It Hot

John Miller - Lelant Beach, New Moon
Shorter one this time, just because I've been busy and the passage of time kinda snuck up on me - looking to get this one finished before the heat of the day becomes a bit much again to boot. Kicking off with perhaps the poppiest tune from HEALTH's DEATH MAGIC in LA LOOKS, part of me wants to say it stands out from the rest of the album as a result but in hindsight it fits right in with the rest of the electro-infused stuff they were experimenting with around this time - but at the same time I can see why it ended up in some indie pop playlists around the time with that chorus. Certainly much easier to digest than some of their earlier work, which while I do like, I must admit I'm a big fan of the direction they took with this album.



Another cut from the Tangent 2002: Disco Nouveau compilation again this time. There's a ton of good stuff here that could almost make a post or two of it's own - like the name suggests, the comp features a bunch of big names from around the time offering their takes on the disco style revival of the era. I went in expecting tons of electroclash (and to be fair between the ADULT. track and a couple others I wasn't disappointed) but there's a lot of variety on here - enter DMX Krew's contribution. If you've been around and heard the past couple DMX Krew tracks I've posted you know what to expect: full on tongue in cheek embracing of pretty much every retro electronic stereotype you can think of. Make Me comes from the same area as You Can't Hide Your Love (which if you hadn't guessed from the cover art is very self-aware), and you'll find more of the same formula here - I can understand it being too corny for some folks but I find it quite charming. And there's certainly no argument that it is an ideal fit for a compilation of modern disco-inspired tracks.



Revisiting the Sounds From The Far East compilation once again, featuring a choice selection of tracks from the Far East Recording boys Soichi Terada and Shinichiro Yokota. Yokota's contributions to the Far East Recording compilations don't get as much attention as Terada's (or worse, incorrectly credited to Terada), but they too are solid bits of early 90's Deep House - Do It Again is the biggest example of this as a bunch of places have the credit wrong, but I can kind of understand that as this one does sound an awful lot like the kind of stuff Terada made on those releases. Tunes like this just feel great, every time I think I've gotten a little stale on House as a whole, a track like this will come along and remind me why I love it so. Also, this is a reminder to me to check out his newer stuff, both he and Terada are still releasing things fairly regularly!



Speaking of things I think I've outgrown - a little bit of Future Funk to finish off. It's a genre that suffered from a massive explosion of content, and like so many other genres that happens to that lead to an absolute boatload of releases that I couldn't keep up with. I've dipped back in every so often to just check in on the scene, but nothing's ever grabbed me the way Macross 82-99's early stuff did. I'm more than willing to admit that a massive part of that is the vague 'French Touch' sound tracks like this one have going for them which makes me all nostalgic for my early blogging days. A contender for one of the best opening tracks of all time, Now And Forever makes for a perfect introduction as it dances its way through J-Pop influences and even gets full on vaporwave in parts - I highly recommend checking it out, especially seeing as you can scoop the full thing for one dollar.



And that'll do for this time. Not quite as short as I had in mind because I ended up putting an extra track in, but even then its still curtailed given how long some recent ones ended up! With that in mind I'll wrap it up here, be back soon with more but until then - as always: Stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

About the House

It's been a little while since that last one, and I was looking over my list of tunes that had picked my ear over the last week when I noticed a pattern. It's time again to revisit the genre that led me to this very site in the first place: House. It was French House in particular that brought me to this site all those moons ago - something that I really appreciate about electronic music and House as a whole is the sheer variety on offer, Acid and French House sound very different on paper but they share the same DNA.

Keith Haring - Barking Dogs (Pop Shop IV) (1989)

And that's essentially what this post is going to be - a smattering of all different flavours of House to try. First is a band you wouldn't necessarily expect to come up when talking about House - The Knife. I adore The Knife, the sugary sweet electopop of Deep Cuts is delightfully catchy and Silent Shout's cold electronics make it one of my favourite albums of all time. This track is a reworking of Pass This On from Deep Cuts - all the tracks from Shaken-Up Versions are reworks of past Knife tracks done for their final round of live shows. And for Pass This On they did a really great job, the original is danceable (if a little slow), but the new and charmingly old school 4/4 house beat that opens this version make it much more suited for the dancefloor. The steel pan melody was something I was really curious about as it sounds a little dated on the original from 2003 but in a cheeky and slightly ironic way, but it's not changed much here at all, but with the switch up in instrumentation it doesn't sound out of place at all.



Speaking of old school, this one is an album I've meant to bring up for a long time now. I was holding onto it for a podcast episode for an extremely long time because the sound here is supremely up Adam's street. Another artist you might not have expected to see in a post all about House, Luke Vibert Presents UK Garave Vol. 1 is pretty much exactly what it says on the box: it's a sincere love letter to the retro sound of UK Garage and Rave. While Vibert is firmly in early 90's territory with the sound here - the UK Garage scene did continue for a loooong time, even after breaking into the mainstream and dying back again in the early 00's. We used to listen to tracks like this when I was a teen, and one of the records we loved was partially responsible for getting me this writing gig in the first place - Paul Rayner's 'Feel Me'.

So while I'm not the exact demographic this is aimed at, I have a real fondness for it still. It would be easy to discount it as shameless nostalgia bait, especially considering the amount of samples there is of the tracks being paid tribute to on here, but the whole thing is actually really sincere - the samples are part of a much bigger picture and aren't leant on as the main attraction or anything. I've chosen Heard It All B4 because not only is it a real jam, but it shows off an incredibly amount of the variety in the genre - there's breakbeats, lush synths, those classic shout-out samples of course, and to top it all off some lovely wobbly bassy bits too, I love it all. Here's hoping we see Vol. 2 sometime soon, it's been a little while now and there's no sign of it yet. But in the meantime there's plenty on this EP to get into.



And finally an artist who has recently come back into rotation after a long absence. Matthew Herbert (or just Herbert depending on the release) is an artist I picked up back in the Grooveshark days, with a track from this very album actually. Herbert's early releases were firmly in Deep House territory, though a different kind than the one I did the big post on a little while back. Bodily Functions on the other hand is a much more varied body of work: sometimes House, sometimes downtempo, sometimes just experimental - and all with a jazzy streak to it too. It's an album I have mixed feelings about, but that's mainly my fault as I ended up putting it away for years after completely rinsing it by over-listening!

There are tracks on it that I still really like though, Leave Me Now was released as a single before the album so as you might expect it's one of the less experimental cuts on here. It came up because a friend of mine was looking for stuff to put in a playlist for background listening, and I think this is perfect for that. I don't mean that as a criticism either! This is one of those tracks that is so smooth it makes the time pass by much easier. It blends a bunch of house elements I really like in a unique way, there's the lone piano and R&B-esque vocal you might expect from a Lounge style house record, but the beat and sparse synths border more on Deep and Tech House, even Minimal territory in parts.



And that'll once again do it for this time, I actually have some other tunes stashed in another post draft that didn't fit here so hopefully shouldn't be as long as a gap between them this time. It's not the coming up with ideas that is the issue, it's finding the time to write at the minute! Regardless, I hope you all enjoy some of the tunes here, and as always - Stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Newfound

It's been a productive time in terms of finding new tunes - between Omodaka and this bevy of stuff I'm sharing today we've got a decent amount of variety. For a while I felt like I was stagnating a bit - but I've also had it go the other way where I'm getting so much new music that I don't think that I'm giving it a good amount of appreciation. Not so much this time, a smattering of EPs makes for just the right amount of new stuff in my experience, and that's exactly what we have today - bits and pieces I've found either through recommendations, looking up old EPs to see if they're readily available for streaming and just generally exploring the world of electronic.

Wilhelm Sasnal - Kacper and Anka (2009)


Photek to begin with, yet another artist on the list of 'Things that I should be familiar with on paper'. I've never really explored Photek in much detail despite my occasional dips into 90's D&B - outside of the now customary bits and pieces I have from soundtracks I can't say I have much. But that's not really as relevant anyway as Photek has done much more than just Drum & Bass since the 90's (something that often sees people come out of the woodwork to whinge and moan about as well). The Aviator / Totem EP is a House / Dubstep record respectively, and it's the title track I've chosen today. Discogs says it's Deep House and I can kinda get where it's coming from, it's not the kind that I talked about in my big Deep House dive a couple posts ago though - But I'm not here to argue semantics, it's a lovely piece of mid-tempo house with a nice groove to it, a real far cry from the rough cut breakbeats that you may know him for. It's not hard to see why Photek is doing a lot of soundtrack stuff these days, tracks like this have that slick edge to them that makes for good ammo for that kind of thing.

Please excuse the doubling up of players, I wanted one for the Hypem archives but there is only this preview on 'tek's official soundcloud, so I included the YT player underneath with the full thing just to cover both bases.

Photek · Aviator [clip]

Heading back to the 90's next with Dave Angel. I wrongfully assumed that a lot of Dave's older work would be not readily available online, as is so often the story with so many electronic artists, there's normally a licence issue or something stopping it from being readily available. But I am glad to report that is not the case - the entirety of the Seas Of Tranquility EP is up on Dave's soundcloud, as it is on other streaming platforms, albeit with much more plain album art than the actual original vinyl.

As you might have guessed from the titles, the whole EP has this aquatic theme running throughout it which is used to great effect when creating all different kinds of atmospheres. The EP dances between techno and house, with bits and pieces (Especially the opening track Shallow Waters) sounding like what Underground Resistance were making for Galaxy 2 Galaxy - think Jupiter Jazz and the like.

Some of these tracks could have gone into the Deep House post quite easily as well: Abyss is one of the standouts from the EP and would have fit right in with the rest of my selections there - though it's a little bit more heavy with those kicks than the choices I made for that post, the oceanic theme still makes for generous applications of lush synth work. I would have liked a little bit more variety throughout, but there's plenty to go at if you love the sound of each element as much as I as they each have their chance in the spotlight. I also love the pitch bends down during the break around the 5:30 mark, it's a small touch but one that's masterfully placed - It's a shame it happens so late in the mix though. The whole EP is a great listen but I just can't stop myself from playing this one out recently, for a track that's as old as I am I'm finding it incredibly fresh.

Dave Angel · Abyss

And finally - a little more from Ceephax. I've mentioned Ceephax a couple of times, mainly because I love Mediterranean Acid very much. And if you needed an introduction to the kind of thing you can expect from the Acid Crew, that video should let you know. Like DMX Krew, Ceephax has a rather playful approach to electronic music - making Acid covers of Bach, cheekily called Prelude in 303 Major, with deliberatley dated album art to go along with them.

But don't be tempted to write it off as just a tongue in cheek comedy project, as you might have heard on those last two examples - Ceephax has a penchant for being able to write real ear-worms which makes a lot of his works a real treat to listen to. Enter Haliphax (Friend Reunited), a reworking of an older tune called Friend Track. It's a refreshing take for me, lovely and smooth but with some pretty hefty kicks once the track gets going, similar to the Dave Angel track in that respect actually. While it's pretty hefty at a 9 and a half minute runtime, it's kept consistently fresh throughout so it doesn't feel overly extended.

I like the approach Ceephax takes on tracks like this too, it would be very easy to fall into the trap of making it all about the analogue tech, whereas I think that Ceephax's productions are more like modern tracks that just happen to be made on old equipment. While as you heard on Prelude in 303 Major Ceephax does go all in on the acid front from time to time, tracks like Haliphax really show off how good he is at taking those hallmark sounds and making something new with them. Tracks like this feel like they come out of a sincere place of love for the equipment, I love a squealing 303 as much as anyone but it's great to hear fresh spins like this every now and then.



And that'll do it for this time, I hope you like some of these tracks as much as I do - I've been really into the Seas Of Tranquility EP as of late following on from that House post before - and I plan on saving some of that Ceephax goodness for the next Bandcamp Friday so you can expect it to crop up again soon! I have my eyes on a couple of things to talk about next too, but IRL commitments are picking back up so it may be a day or two later than usual like this one was, but I'll be here!

And as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

How Deep is your House?

Following on from the Bandcamp scoops, I've dug into my archives to find what little bits and pieces of Deep House I have in there. See, it's a genre I'd say I love the sound of, but I don't seem to have much of it. A lot of that was me just riding the high of Mr. Fingers' Amnesia, home of Can You Feel It? among others. And if I had to point to a track that was probably my favourite example of it, Feel It would probably win out. But I've already talked about it a bunch in the past, and it is also (rightfully so) one of the more popular bits of retro electronic out there. So instead let's see if I can't round up some similar sounding stuff.

Sam Francis - Her Blue Deeps (1972)
Laurent Garnier to start out - one of those names again that always came up in the circles I frequent but I never really investigated in much detail. Still, even then he's managed to have several tracks come on my radar, and one that instantly came to mind when I was thinking about this post was Last Tribute From The 20th Century - suitably, the closer from 2000's Unreasonable Behaviour. As the name would suggest, much like Daft Punk's Teachers, this is a love letter to Garnier's influences - as the track itself says: "New York, Detroit and Chicago".

It's one of those tracks that gripped me from the get-go, as you all know by now, I'm a sucker for that kinda sweeping smooth sound. The whole thing has a tinge of melancholy to it, but that's easy to overlook when you slip into the groove of that bassline - I appreciate the little flourishes here and there that are evocative of Frankie Knuckles and company too. Last Tribute is definitely one of the highlights from the album and has more than earned its place here.



Admittedly this one is more straight up Detroit Techno than Deep House, but I think it still fits the bill. Burujha is a lovely and melodic cut - nice and bouncy but carrying that slight melancholy mentioned before. This is actually the track that made me sit up and pay attention to Octave One after hearing it on the Games' eclectic 'Spend The Night With' mixtape (where it's actually incorrectly listed as the title track from the 'Art And Soul' EP that it's from) - that mixtape really runs the spectrum of genres, from full on Detroit techno like this to Eccojams-esque disco cuts - Lopatin & Ford even give Enya the vaporwave treatment on it at one point! It sounds absolutely gorgeous on there - it plays back a little slower which really makes it sound more techno, and as a bonus the cassette tape gives it a great lo-fi edge, even distorting some of the synths.

But I think my heart has to belong to the real deal release one, the whole album it's from The Living Key (To Images From Above) is great but Burujha remains my absolute favourite, and like Last Tribute above makes for a fantastically fitting album closer. Burujha also catches me off guard on the regular, as there's 30 seconds of silence at the end before a little untitled hidden track starts.



And lastly, Soichi Terada. One of the ones I had in mind when I started writing and annoyingly one of the only ones readily available for streaming not from YT. You (and I) are probably more familiar with Terada's Drum & Bass work - I've talked about it a fair few times in the past here, his work on the Ape Escape 1 & 3 soundtracks is incredible - really playful, often lush and surprisingly heavy for what it's soundtracking! Terada actually got his start making House music in the late 80's and early 90's, producing tracks like Sunshower in '89 that could have easily gone here.

The track I've picked out though is a slightly reworked version of Purple Haze - one of Terada's early solo productions. The original is a little rough 'round the edges, charmingly so with those MIDI Piano stabs leading us in. I'm a little on the fence about the Hendrix sample however, while I do like it I have to say I much prefer the (Edit) that doesn't have it - that said, I'm also sure a big reason for this edit was to avoid having the rights holders coming knocking. The edit is overall much cleaner sounding too as a result of that and some little production tweaks here and there, which I think suits it better in the end - I absolutely adore those lush backing synths that seem to have been designed to directly target the part of me that loves that sound. Only complaints I have is that I would maybe like some build up to the main body of the track as you might expect from a Deep House cut, but I can't deny that I love that this one is all action as soon as you hit play.





And that'll about do it for this time, a shame I couldn't find more actual music streams but at least they're all from official sources. Speaking of, I can't do a deep house post without a least giving honourable mention to Marshall Jefferson's Mushrooms - specifically the Salt City Orchestra Remix, a frequent appearance on my more hi-tech sounding playlists, Mushrooms also has the unique twist of the spoken word storytelling guiding you through the experience. That'll do it for this one, I'll stop myself there because I could go on and on! And of course: As always - Stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF