What's New?

I was hoping to make the first post of 2022 all new stuff or at least a good 60-40 at least. I don't think I've managed to even hear anything new yet come to think of it, but I also haven't really been trying too hard either as I get back into the swing of working again. With no word on Bandcamp Fridays for 2022 either I am going to have to try a little harder to come up with stuff it seems! So I had an idea instead, what if I went back and talked about the first things I got off Bandcamp instead? And so here we are.

Juan Gris - La Guitare (1913)
Predictably, a lot of my early purchases were indie soundtracks. BC is still a goldmine for that sort of thing, and it's a really great resource to not only support the artists in question but also get high quality versions of the sounds too - sometimes the soundtracks included on the Steam releases are 192 or VBR. Enter Faster Than Light, better known as just FTL. One of those releases from the golden age of indie games; those small ideas that spin out into something relentlessly addictive, with the added bonus of being able to run on your office-quality PC to boot. Part of what makes the FTL experience so iconic is the soundtrack from Ben Prunty - he makes spectacular use of recurring motifs throughout that really enhance the experience. I had to put the OST away for a while after playing the game for so long, but I'd be lying if I said I ever grew to dislike it. Rather than a deep cut I've gone for what I think best summarises this, one of the earliest tracks in the game - the 'Battle' variation of the MilkyWay theme: Gorgeous and suitably spacey. It doesn't quite sound the same without the pew pew of lasers and the occasional chunk of a missile launch though!



My next few trips were similarly influenced, a couple of fan works related to some series I enjoyed. Echochamber's I'm Real, I'm Here has a lot of influence taken from Serial Experiments Lain, a surreal, psychological exploration into the world of the technological circa 1998 - parts of which have only become more apt with time. But I don't mean to put you off, you can very much enjoy this album without knowing a thing about the series - besides the cover art and some samples there's no super deep cuts that you need to be a fan of to recognise. I'm Real, I'm Here is a bit of an odd record - it leaps from genre to genre over the course of it's runtime, it could be thudding minimal-esque house one minute, and then change gears to long vaporwave-y drones the next. Thought I'd split the difference this time around and post Symbols, Figures And Blurred Faces as it effectively merges those two sides of the album; an almost Burial style experience, it's made up of a bunch of short 'sketches' that run between a whole bunch of styles. A great little summary of the album in one track, if you like this then I would strongly recommend checking out the full thing.



Funnily enough actually, my next Bandcamp purchase was in fact the Burial track I had in mind when making that comparison above. After playing the hell out of an MP3 of the B-Side to Truant since my University days I figured I at least owed the man a couple of quid. Rough Sleeper is almost a quarter of an hour tour de force of Burial, it might be my ultimate favourite from his extensive back-catalogue. I struggle to pin down the section I like the most as it changes pretty often, the intro is lovely but I also have a real love for the almost Garage bit that starts around the 4 minute mark (which I will hold my hands up and admit is more than a bit influenced by my love of treated vocals). That section is by far and away the longest, and the way it fades away into that little ambient break around the 9:25 mark is lovely (that section is my current love!) Before rounding off with some proper 2-step around 10:45. It's a lot to take in, but aside from the sudden stop at the end I have no complaints. Not sure I'd recommend it for a new listener to Burial, but if you like the first couple of minutes you would do well to take a look at his whole discography.



And I think that'll do it for today. I hope 2022 has been treating you all well, mine's had a bit of a rocky start, but after the last year or so it's hardly a big deal. Either way, you can count on me to be here with more musical musings on a semi-regular basis - hope you've enjoyed this look back at my digital catalogue and as always - Stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Disconnect

Gérard Fromanger - Tirez-Tirez, Boulevard des Italiens (1971)

Lately I've been taking some time to do more just sitting and listening to my collection. For years it's played as the background to my goings-on but as of recently I couldn't shake the feeling I wasn't giving it the attention it deserved, especially some of the newer things I'd picked up that immediately get lost in the sea of shuffle as there are thousands of tracks. So, as cliche as it sounds, I've been taking a little slice of the day after I get off work to stretch out and just listen for a while with no real distractions. Here are some bits and pieces I've had a good time with as of late.

Arovane is one of those. I want to say that this is another one that I had recommended to me a bunch back in the Grooveshark days but I can't say for sure, we have come full circle though in that it does keep recommending it to me on discogs now I'm looking at a bunch of old Toytronic stuff. Tides is a lovely album, one that was distinctly more ambient in my memory than it actually is, it seems. It came into my collection when I was still riding the high of Akira Yamaoka's more trip-hop influenced stuff from the Silent Hill soundtracks, and there's a little bit of that influence here: title track Tides sounding like one of the less menacing examples from the original 4 with that hazy, heavy stumbling beat and distant acoustic backing, the same kind of atmosphere Yamaokoa was playing with comes up even more later on with some delicately placed warm pads. The final falling away of all the elements and fade into the full ambient outro is beautiful too, Tides is an early highlight of the album - but the rest is great too, if you like this one you could scoop the whole thing and enjoy it easily.



Sense came to me in a similar way, one of those artists I noted down in the past that had been recommended to me, but I put off because I assumed they'd be hard to come by like some of the older IDM stuff, but most of Sense's work is up on Bandcamp. This album sat on my Bandcamp wishlist for a while among a couple of other Sense releases - Learning To Be stood out to me from the artwork alone, I find it really striking and really evocative of the albums sound. The opening of ex t nerla carries on that warm and fuzzy trend with more lush pads and an analogue hum, with some little pitch bends and that introduce a slightly off kilter sound that's a signifier of things to come.

Learning To Be is a much more traditional IDM affair than the above, nothing super intense though, more in line with some of the stuff Casino Versus Japan or The Flashbulb have made. It's a solid opener, one that nicely sets up the rest of the album as most of the tracks follow this same kind of formula, but that's not a condemnation as it's one that works really really well. The beats can be a little on the harsh side at times, but I do love the sounds that Sense plays with on this album, and I will almost certainly be posting the gorgeous ambient drone of Human Buffer Zone at some point in the future.





Closing out is B-side to the Truant EP - Burial's Rough Sleeper which I've brought up a few times in the past. It might just eke out the top spot for my favourite thing he's ever done, it's a 13 minute masterclass in his aesthetic - though it remains a near constant beautifully lush for the entire runtime and doesn't quite dip to the tense and menacing vibes of some of his other work. Having said that though the opening sections do have some nice and thick basslines behind them, and there is usually a 2-step beat accompanying most of it, so it's not like a full on ambient piece or anything. It can be a bit daunting with it's length but its not too bad in practice: It is a continuous experience but one that's divided into clear sections, the first half is are absolutely divine and my favourite of the lot, but each one has there place and there's not a bad one among them. None of them overstay their welcome, but take that with a hint of bias as the longest sections are also my favourites of the bunch.

I only have a couple of complaints after all this time, the first one being simply the ending is super abrupt (but that's small potatoes considering the length) but the other one is a little more pressing. Here and there over the runtime, there are some intentional digital glitches put in. They are good for flavour I will admit, but they are a bit too convincing in execution (if you've ever ripped a slightly scuffed CD you'll attest to that too), to the point where I actually had to listen to the official uploads on other services to make sure it wasn't just my copy.



That's all for this time, I have a couple more things lined up for the coming posts but I might also slip another quick one that's just a blurb and some tunes like I did a little while ago (just minus the rant next time!). I found it pretty refreshing to do, and while I love to write posts like this where I get to go a bit in depth, I appreciate it does sometimes get a bit text heavy so I figure I might try it just for variety and that - might let me queue up multiple like I used to a little while ago. But anyway, hope you dig some of these choices and as always: Stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Missed Connections

You ever find a track or an album and find yourself thinking 'Man, had I found this X years / months / etc. ago I would have been really into this?" It's something I'd not really considered myself until recently but it has happened to me a few times now. When it does happen it makes me feel a little sad in a sense - if only I'd have found these tracks earlier, y''know? Still there's no time like the present is there, So I'm going to scroll through my archives and see what I can come up with that I remember this happening with.

Nina Tokhtaman Valetova - Entropy (2015)
Above & Beyond are one of those acts that gets recommended to me a lot but I've never really taken a deep dive on, I like bits and pieces of what I've heard and their remixes from time to time though. One thing I did see come up again and again on my semi-regular trips into the world of Trance was the one and so far only OceanLab album. Sirens Of The Sea has that distinct Anjunabeats style on the cover, with liberal use of Helvetica as so many other techy trancy covers did at the time - I've been aware of it but never really listened, put off a bit by the 'Vocal Trance' label which in my experience hasn't been great (though hypocritically I do have that love for the 90's stuff that probably falls under that label). Still, I really liked 'Satellite' around the time it came out, I figured I could at least see what the album had in store.

While tracks like 'Satellite' are in the spirit of Trance as I know it - there's quite a bit of variety in sound on here, though as mentioned above, I do only really swim around in the shallow end when it comes to the genre (no pun intended!). Tracks like On A Good Day take me right back to when I was really getting into Progressive House around Dadmau5's Random Album Title era. I still carry a bit of a torch for this sound, admittedly a bit tinged by nostalgia, but I can't help but smile a little bit when the drop approaches. It totally could have been one of those tracks that bled onto the radio in that time, it was in fact released as a single but in 2009, so it was well within that window. And this is really the track that spurred this post - I still like it for sure, though IMO the piano has dated a bit - but man, back then the younger Van Foxbat would be so into this.

Above & Beyond · On A Good Day (feat. OceanLab)

TeddyLoid next - an artist that's been a bit of a mixed bag for me. See, the reason I went to check out TeddyLoid in the first place is because of the beautifully bombastic Fly Away, a track that in the spirit of this post takes me right back to the glory days of Blog House and that I would be lying if I didn't say I loved. So on the strength of that I looked up 'Loid's other stuff, and it's true that you find quite a few tracks in the same vein - but you also get some dubstep digressions in there as well, the kind you might expect of the mid 2010s era, the kind that's perhaps a tad obnoxious. I don't mean that as a knock to the tracks themselves - they are absolutely well made and (as is the point of this post!) would have been supremely up my alley around the time. That's also not to say there isn't the occasional track that I still kinda like despite all of that.

All You Ever Need combines my love of euphoric trance with these supremely powerful electro stabs that I can't deny still stir something in me. Lion Rebels too, while being one of the biggest offenders for the out and out robo-wub dubstep sound has it's moments to shine - that vocal break with TeddyLoid's now trademark autotune treatment (which again I am biased towards) sounds brilliant. The full track is this interesting clash of then contemporary dubstep, the dancehall stuff that Dubstep was incorporating around the time and topped with with Japanese vocals instead (at least until that break). The whole concoction is an an interesting mix even if it's not for you.

Apologies for the 40 second previews, the version of this album on streaming is the 'Reloaded' version which has a different mix on it. To make up for it I'm including the two I mentioned above.

TeddyLoid · All You Ever Need feat. ☆Taku Takahashi (m-flo) (Preview)

TeddyLoid · Lion Rebels feat. JUN 4 SHOT from FIRE BALL & N∀OKI, NOBUYA & KAZUOMI from ROTTENGRAFFTY (Preview)

Bringing it full circle with more dubstep, this time in the classic style. As the title of this compilation suggests, this is all hand-picked Skream tracks circa 2004-2006 which is a little before I got into dubstep proper but is still my favourite era of it's sound. I found these completely by happenstance when looking over discogs to see who had official bandcamps (because BC's search function sometimes bugs out a bit). There's not as much on there as I was expecting, not just from his main discography there was a time when Skream used to give out free EPs of bits and pieces every so often and Bandcamp is a pretty perfect platform for that. Though having said that, there were plenty of bootleg re/mixes on those free EPs so it might be a bit of a rights minefield.

But I digress, onto this compilation: These tracks are definitely not as refined as the ones actually released around the time (something that's only highlighted more if you go back and listen to Skream's deubt from '06 as I did after hearing this) but I think that's to be expected with the 'Unreleased' label and all - from an archival front it's nice to see tracks like this see the light of day as well. Over the three volumes it's really interesting to see Skream's sound develop and change with both experience and access to technology - while the later ones may be a little more slick in their production, I do still love me a dubplate that sounds like it was knocked out in someone's bedroom one weekend like this one.



And that'll wrap it up for this time. This was meant to be a little quickie, but since I had to jumble up the post with the Daft Punk announcement so I came back and added a bit to this one. It's been a fairly productive week, I've tried to focus a bit more on writing new stuff rather than restoring - which apart from me biting off a bit more than is comfortable with the Moby Retro Review has been surprisingly smooth sailing, I'll try and keep it up!

And as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Ilictromix: Fuji Kureta (2014)

A re-post and archival of one of the series of mixes Adam sourced for us a long time ago. There's a couple more of these in the archives but I will spread them out between new posts! In the meantime, stay safe and enjoy the music. -CVF

The temperatures are rising outside and to celebrate Ilictromix is following suit. This week we go all the way to Istanbul for a stellar mix from duo Fuji Kureta. Some lush, sticky, worldly, sounds are weaved throughout some delicious Turkish melodies for this weeks mix. Its a polar opposite from last weeks mix but equally rewarding.

Fuji Kureta consists of members Sahin Kureta and Deniz Ozturk who have only been DJ'ing since 2008. They met while working as translators and both shared a love of Glitch and fellow Istanbul producer,  Ah! Kosmos

They just dropped a new album titled Andrey and its a stellar release. The mix they provided us with feature songs that they listened to while recording Andrey. There are some solid original tracks and some favorites of mine from Jon Hopkins and Little Dragon.

Check out their Album Andrey 

Or their Soundcloud, Twitter, Facebook

Tracklist:

Mykki Blanco - Angggry Byrdz
Jaaska - Chinna Chinna
Snasen - Tillop Till Dramatikk (Upland Remix)
Fuji Kureta - The Whale
The Baths - Phaedra
Jon Hopkins - Collider
Tirzah - I’m not Dancing
Moderat - Les Grandes Marches
Stromae - Papaoutai
Little Dragon - Seconds
Mariam the Believer - Somewhere Else
Tokimonsta feat. MNDR - Go with It
Sylvan Esso - Coffee
Matmos - Les Folies Francaises
-Adam

Ilictronix Podcast: Lost In Electrons

"Claude and Adam share and discuss their favorite tracks of the week, in this episode: Claude shares electrons from F.U.S.E. Moderat, Simian Mobile Disco and more, Adam is back on his usual kick of house and piano stabs."

We are back again for this week! I've been feeling a little scatterbrained at the minute, same as last week to an extent actually due to IRL things. I tried to not let it effect the show too much but it definitely did or this episode, due in part to me taking a deep dive into learning software again too. So as I (admittedly rather poorly) tried to explain at the top of the episode, my choices this week are all tunes I've found myself lost in. There is an overarching theme of spacey sounding synths too that was a semi-conscious choice when I was formulating this list. On the way we make some diversion on the subjects ofCopyright in the modern era, naming your albums, Deluxe Editions once again and all the usual points you've come to expect by now. We have some good talk in this episode, helped along in part by Adam's lovely rebound choices, a far cry from the deliberatle dreary atmosphere of last week, Adam is once again as the man himself put it, Back On His Bullshit™. It's delightful to have him once again hitting us with our weekly dose of piano stabs, it's certainly been a comfort to me in these uncertain times. Anyway, enough waxing poetic, tracklist as usual below!

Tracklist:
Intro: Flo Milli - Beef FloMix


Claude’s picks:
Moderat - Let In The Light
Yoko Shimomura - Out Of Phase
Simian Mobile Disco - Do Not Exceed Stated Dose
F.U.S.E - UVA
Ulrich Schnauss - Nothing Happens In June


Adam’s Picks
Head High - Hardcore
Cody Currie - Asteroid Belt
Martyn - Elden St.
Chaos in the CBD - Green Dove
The Pharmacist - Vision

Outro:
Burial - Rough Sleeper


SHOW NOTES:
The BBC Radio 6 show I talked about where they interview Yoko Shimomura and other composers of the video-game circle is available here, but only for 5 more days as of writing. It's an interesting listen, and definitely check out the other episodes in the series too!

-Claude Van Foxbat

Ilictronix Podcast: Down With The Sickness

"Claude explores the genres and artists he has mentioned in passing during previous episodes. Adam is sick and shares a bedridden playlist."

We can't catch a break these past couple weeks, between weather delays and various inconveniences last week we had our fair share. This week has it's own flavour though, as Adam is besotted with some kind of dreaded lurgy. Still it served as good inspiration for his selections this week, opening with the incredible vintage Clark with Slow Spines from Empty The Bones Of You. We soon hit my patch tho, which this week is loosley themed around artists I've mentioned in passing or have otherwise overlooked in the past episodes.

Peaches to start with, I was originally going to say in the episode that I didn't think she'd done anything since but a quick look at discogs quickly proved that wrong (though it kept I Feel Cream's reputation as the 'cleanest' Peaches album though. Still goes hard even coming up on 10 years later. Rex The Dog also makes his first appearance, I sum up my thoughts on the album pretty succinctly in the episode, but the short of it is that it's a quality bit of house that suffers (only slightly) from being cut down slightly from the OG versions of the tracks. Ladytron also appear, think it's their first time too which is surprising for how much I like them. My pick for this week comes from their later works, but I touch on their history while discussing. Adam also drops some extra knowledge about one of their albums that I didn't know.

Rounding out with Modeselektor (who I think I have mentioned before, but again not this album). Miss Kittin also makes her first solo appearance too, which would have been really fitting had I chosen something from her first album I Com but I went with the second Batbox instead. Most of what I said for I Com applies to this album too, they're full of gorgeous breakdowns and of course Kittin's trademark vocals.

Adam's selections for this week are the most eclectic they've been so far, which is only fitting given his predicament. I must say they at least flow together very very well, which is something I always try to implement in mine. Saying that they are also essentially the sequel to his scrapped super depressing winter selections from last week which would have been nice to hear, if a little bleak back-to-back, it's nice to hear something other than garge piano stabs for a change too (I joke, I joke). I owe Adam thanks anyway for soldiering on despite being gravely ill, and for getting the episode edited and uploaded on time to boot! Tracks and a singular show note after the linebreak:

Tracklist:
Intro:
Chris Clark - Slow Spines

Claude’s picks:
Peaches - I Feel Cream
Rex The Dog - Bubblicious
Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch
Modeselektor - (I Can't Sleep) Without Music
Miss Kittin - Play Me A Tape


Adam’s Picks
Kemikal - Graffiti
James Blake - Overgrown
Galcher Lustwerk - Idhouse
Total Art Of Percussion - Wuhan Wuchang
Juan Atkins - Riod

Outro:
Ellen Allien & Apparat - Way Out


SHOW NOTES:
Adam linked me to his little slice of childhood fever-dream trauma (that made him become one with electronic music) turns out it was a clip from Superman III of all things, so now both you and I are clearer on what exactly he was on about.

And with that, we'll see y'all next week, where we'll be bringing you more selections, same time same channel!

-Claude Van Foxbat

Ilictronix Podcast: Out In The Garage, A Trip Down Memory Lane

Claude and Adam discuss different topics and share their favorite tracks. This week Claude shares a selection of UK Garage and Dub cuts while Adam brings some house tracks. Both go into detail about their music libraries and discuss youtube rips.

The ilictronix podcast for this week continues the running theme we've had for the past couple, I talk a bit about some garage tunes from my days of yoof, and how they eventually morphed into early Dubstep. Adam talks about one of the cornerstones of ilictronix with a rundown of all things house including one of the all time smashers from Crydamoure, The Eternals' Wrath Of Zeus. As mentioned above we get into the nitty gritty of our respective collections and a whole lot of other technicalities; it's also another really long one due to our choices of tunes as well. I know that's probably not for everyone but sometimes it can't be helped, a whopping 9 minutes of it is soley dedicated to Armand's mix of Spin Spin Sugar and frankly, it deserves it! Full tracklist follows:

Tracklist:
Intro:
The Streets - Has It Come To This?

Claude’s picks:
Sneaker Pimps - Spin Spin Sugar (Armand's Dark Garage Mix)
Artful Dodger - Movin' Too Fast
Skream - Summer Dreams
D1 - Chocolate Orange
Pangaea - Router


Adam’s Picks
The Eternals - Wrath Of Zeus
Sweely - My Devotion To You
DJ Romain - All Day All Night
Ian Pooley - Feel It
Champagne Bubbler - Give You (Real Love)

Outro:
Jeanie Tracy - Picture This (Club Remix)


Show Notes:
The Streets video with the dartboard I mentioned was actually recently uploaded to their official channel! so you can enjoy a decent quality look into the life and aesthetic of a northern English working class lad circa the early 2000's. Bad haircuts and questionable jewellery choices intact. This tune is actually a side of The Streets I failed to mention, in addition to tunes like Let's Push Things Forward and Has It Come To This? they have tunes like the above which are more tongue in cheek that I remembered when I mentioned that Prodigy sample but didn't want to jump back to the start with topics.
A more true to life one would be the video for Has It Come To This, there's so many hallmarks of the era that does a great job of placing it. That focus on the Nike trainers around 40 seconds in for starters, fairly sure I had that exact pair. Even though I was much younger than the demographic Mike Skinner's representing in the video, a lot of it is exactly the stuff we did as kids (minus going to the pub, naturally.), hanging out in naff café's and playing PS2 at the one friend's place who had one at the time. To abuse the phrase once again, a real time capsule.

The vintage dubstep forum thread Adam talked about can be seen here. As someone who occasionally stumbles into old forum threads about music, games and more I always like seeing them still up. It's nice to see with hindsight the thoughts of the time, both good and bad. I know that there's posts from a 14-ish year old me on some Daft Punk fan forums out there that I do not care to go find. I find it hard enough to read my old blog posts from when I was 16 as it is never mind that.

And that *should* be that for this week. As I've learned doing these, there may be one or two things I've missed or otherwise forgotten to put in the show notes. If so just stay tuned, I give the episodes a quick run through after the posts go up, and I'll edit this post with updates should I have missed any! That's it until next week, join us once again where Me and Adam will be back with more hot takes and even hotter selections. As always, stay safe and enjoy the music. We'll leave the light on for ya.

-Claude Van Foxbat

10 Years Of 'Tronix

The new schedule means I've missed the exact date slightly but 2018 is the year that ilictronix has been surfing the digital waves for a decade and if you're into synchronicity, me and the blog actually share the same birthday!. A lot's changed in that time: trends have come and gone, my list of things to add to my collection has grown ever bigger, as has the collection itself. I'm not sure if I ever expected to reach this milestone, I can count few websites that I've frequented for 10 years or more so it's pretty mind-blowing to have my own site hit that.

A special shout out to all the staff we've had over the years, without them ilitronix wouldn't have grown like it did, and I always enjoyed a peek into other people's music collections and to hear their opinions on various releases. An extra special thanks goes out to Jordan too; original site owner for both his continued behind-the-scenes support after I took over, and of course for taking me on as a writer all those years ago, if it weren't for him I'd not be typing this right now.

What's in store for the future of ilictronix? Well I think I've had a nice groove the past few years so more of the same, with some occasional experimentation with formats and the like as you've come to expect. There have been hard times and I may not always have been the most consistent at posting for a while but I'll always keep coming back to have a natter about my latest additions or old favourites. I'd like to thank all who've read over the years, I'll keep writing and I hope you'll keep visiting. Here's to another 10!

I leave you now with a cross-section track dump of my past favourites from last 10 years of ilictronix. This is actually the severely cut down version too, otherwise I could be here all day. Regardless, It's been far too long since I've done one of these!

We've come a long way, baby

ScummV · Bôa - Duvet (ScummV Remix)

Saki Kaskas · Callista (1998)

Philestine · DJ SHADOW FT LITTLE DRAGON - SCALE IT BACK (PHILESTINE REMIX)

A Mixed Bag

John Cage - Fontana Mix (Dark Grey) (1981)

Not gonna lie, the time to post snuck up on me this time. But luckily I'v been pretty good about keeping a steady source of new tunes coming in. Starting off with something that I was a little lacking in as of late with some good old fashioned Techno. I can be a bit picky when it comes to techno, especially when it comes to the compilation this is from there's a lot of crossover with minimal which ain't really for me. But there's some good stuff on here too, Floating Point wasted no time getting it's Underground Resistance / Galaxy 2 Galaxy on and with that had pretty much sealed the deal from the get go. (Note: Couldn't find a stream for this one, sorry!)

Bryan Zentz - Floating Point

Flipping it 180°, earlier this week Jean Sean dropped my a line with his latest. Or at least, eventually did after some email tomfoolery which is the story of my life. It came through a couple months early unfortunately, as the morning I got it in my inbox it was snowing again here in the UK, definitely one to dig out again come July. Saying again what I said over DMs, that sax in the last quarter is lush, it's been a logn time since I've heard any sax not being used for a cheesy chromeo-esque retro feel or straight up old school MIDI sax samples so it was doubly refreshing to hear.



Been digging back into Stenchman as of late too. Despite me being officially done with dubstep for many years now, I still make an effort to keep up with Stenchman, mainly because he's always coming back with a creative spin on things even if they are often quite crudely titled. Stench has a history of incorporating folky elements into his work, which you can hear a little bit of here in a tune from his house/garage alais Philestine. I really dig the sound of it overall, it's got this slightly rough feel that is a constant in all of Stenchman's output. Similarly, I really like how you can still hear bits of the man's dubstep work in Philestine tunes, especially on the basslines here. My only complaint is that the final fade-out is a little overdrawn but that's small potatoes really.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Guest Night Tales Vol. 2 (2018 Version)

The revival continues, the week sees the return of the first true proper 'Guest' offering, this one was made by a friend of mine at Uni and it was the first moment I realised this could be a series, and pretty much what I said last week still stands: I was really into seeing other people approach the same prompt, and since I don't get to see that as such these days now that my art college days of briefs & crits are behind me, it's been refreshing to revisit this idea.

Grim's offering is a slightly eclectic mix of Hip Hop, Dubstep and Reggae, and just a smidgen of Demon Days era Gorillaz. It's straying form our Electronic label quite a bit, but that was the reasons why I ran with the idea of the Guest Night Tales in the first place. Unfortunately just like my list there were some casualties in the tracklist but I think the meat of it is there and it works just fine. It's only now looking back I see how many tunes I swiped for my own collection from this list, which is another bonus of looking into other peoples collections I suppose: despite the differences mine and Grim' lists might have we had common ground in terms of the Dubstep and Drum & Bass we liked. It's good to step out of your world for a little while, you might just find some tunes and artists you really dig, after all "You Might Like" and "Users Also Liked" algorithms can only take you so far.



There's still a couple more of the Revivals before we hit new ground, the next couple have pretty slim track-lists due to spotify not having the infinite variety of grooveshark, I'm thinking those weeks I might make a second normal post mid-week to make up for it a little. Regardless, stay tuned for more and as always stay safe and enjoy the music!

-Claude Van Foxbat

Standard Protocol

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy - Flower (1925)

A blast from the past as for the first time in I have no idea how long we have an actual, factual shuffle post. These were my bread and butter some years back so it's nice to revisit them once in a while. Speaking of revisiting, I used to skip over this next tune because I wasn't really into the intro, but as the tale's gone so many times before after giving it a little time it turned out to be very much the opposite. The section starting around 2 mins in is extremley powerful, and I wish it stuck around longer. Overall, very nice once you give it the chance.



As for things I don't really dig, this tune is a mixed bag for me. It's incredibly generic at points, even feautring your mandatory EDM style dubstep breakdown towards the midsection. But I can't bring myself ot fully dislike it, for one that ethereal intro is a fantastic reimaging of Beyond The Bounds, and it's already incrdible vocal accompaniment gets a solid treatment here too. I'd love a full-lenght trancy version in the style of the intro, but I can be content with looping it as is for now.



And finally, the final tune and impetus for this post, another tune I'd overlooked because it didn't grab me initially. Once again it does get a little generic in parts especially towards the end but I've grown to like it since. I like the slightly sinister edge to the overall atmosphere, it's like if Distance had some more wobbles going on.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Checkin' In With Bothan

I always like to see where artists take their directions after being out of the loop with them for a while. Enter our most recent example, Bothan, formerly Dr. Snus. The most recent of his I was sent really threw me off at first, that slightly off kilter intro made me think I was going to get some kinda Plug style stuff, albeit at a slower tempo. Imagine my surprise when instead I get a dark shelf wobbler that wouldn't be out of place in Stenchman's arsenal. I only wish some of that intro bled into the rest of the tune and not just the bridge, though that does happen on it's own towards the end anyway.



I was happy to see the Plug style vibes were not a one-off too, and it's like my mind was read as I was writing the above, with Mr. Bothan pretty much resolving all my (admittedly small) gripes in one fell swoop. the whole formula of small self-contained instrumentals and (what I presume) movie samples is a tried and true one for sure, as shown by Flying Lotus way back in 2006. Funny how I mentioned not too long ago I haven't felt the need to go looking for instrumentals in a while and then all of a sudden a bunch fall in my lap. That isn't me complaining mind.



-Claude Van Foxbat

The Submithub Roundup, Vol. 5

After a long absence, the submithub roundup is back and oh boy do we have a reet backlog to work through. There was a whole batch of things tagged indie pop which isn't an issue, but imagine my surprise when the next one comes on. I'd call it hip hop myself but let's not get down that genre rabbit hole, the opening sample had me right away and it's contrast with the main beat is a joy to listen to. AUTOMatic says that " "Speak To Me" addresses the attitude of hip-hop being a disposable art and is an anthem for starving artists everywhere. ", and I always got time for things that deal with that kind of issue, it's applicable to many genres in the age of the bedroom producer after all, but that's a topic for another day.



Another dubiously tagged one this time, with yet another gorgeous intro. As the soundcloud tags say, it's a bit of a mixed bag between dubstep, trap and the like. It's certainly an interesting take on them for sure, I had mixed feelings about it until around 1:30, that break is sublime in of itself, and the comeback into the autotuned/vocoded verses is nicely done too. I'm not too sure that the vocal treatment works hand in hand with the instrumentation, there's nothing *wrong* with it as-is, but I do feel like they'd be more at home on something that sounds a little more like DMX Krew. They're only a small part of the tune though, and other than that small nitpick it's very well put together especially in the last couple of minutes which is chock full of unique sounds.



And finally, something spooky just in time for all hallow's. Takes a little while to get going this one, but I'm glad I stuck through it. Chelsey herself is reminding me of Nicola Kuperus from ADULT. something fierce in her delivery, and the song itself is reminding me of the more intense parts of Massive Attack's 100th Window. I'd definitely like to see them tackle something like 100th Window or The Knife's Silent Shout in future, the slightly menacing side is already there after all. Certainly one of the more unique things we've had submitted, and another act I'll be keeping my eye on.



-Claude Van Foxbat

The (Belated) September Shuffler: Nostalgia Special

I was looking over my schedule and I noticed it's been a long time since we've had a good old fashioned ilictronix track selection and art hasn't it? Well I did originally plan to get this one out towards the end of September but missed the mark slightly. So instead I'm going to solve that right now, starting with one of the more unintentionally amusing artworks I have around.

Alex Colville - September (1979)

I probably say this everytime I post something that's been in my collection for a long time but regardless, Daft Club has been in near constant rotation for night on 10+ years at this point, and yeah it does have some duff moments but that was always going to be the case coming off the heels of Discovery. Here's one that I really dig and continue to in all it's bleepy glory.



It's been a while since I went on about my love for the electro-renaissance of the mid 00's too. Hadn't even given it any thought until The Looks cruised back into my life recently, took me right back to the days where vowels were uncool and every new EP had a MSTRKRFT remix b-side. It's still a good listen, I really dig their overall sound which is chock full of vocoders and handclaps and the like.



Stenchman's also been on my radar as of late, he's revived The Smelly Show which is basically a livestream of him doing his mixin' thing. I imagine the ones he does these days will be much better quality than the Myspace webcam ones we used to get. I still love pretty much everything he puts out, but here's an old favourite from his collaboration project with Suspect, the aptly titles Suspicous Stench.

Suspicious Stench - Faith In The Future

-Claude Van Foxbat

The SubmitHub Roundup, Vol. 2

Wasting no time getting stuck into more things I'm picking up from Submithub. The first offering this time is on point, As I'm sure you've seen many a time I go seeking out more indie electronic stuff in the vein of Au Revoir Simone and Lykke Li. Well this not only scratches that itch, but also has just a sprinkling of funk and a smidgen of disco throughout, think a little like Breakbot or Chromeo. Another thing about my submithub experience so far is that I have yet to see bad artwork accompanying a submission too, which is a real change from the soundcloud trawls of old. It's just a shame I had to come by it on a rainy day.



The strings make a return again (although not for as long as last time), being replaced around 40 secs in by some almost Rusite-esque backing. It does kinda lose me with the dubstep style drop but I can chalk that mainly up to going to way too many student parties and being far too exposed by that sound. It does manage to bring it back around afterwards tho, the breakdowns between are solid, so props to the producer for not banking on the dubstep to carry the rest of the tune, and I'd definitely be interested in more of the more sedate sound from them.



Speaking of funky bits however, Bluberry Spy has everyone so far beat. It had me from the very start with that bassline, and those little splashes of organ throughout are giving me major Nightmares On Wax vibes in the best way. It's actually something that's been sorely missing from my daily audio diet, and only by hearing this did I realise that. Still, at least I have an outlet for that now, will definitely be keeping tabs for when I need to get my fix.

Stop The Presses

What's this? Me keeping to a schedule for the first time in a while? well I never, what's gotten into me? Well it just so happens that I have a render going again so I have no excuse not to do some writin'.

Alexander Liberman - Time (1952)

Honestly today is gonna be a pretty mixed bag, I've just let shuffle do it's thing while I've been keyframing. First is Stenchman's partner in grime Suspect, proving once again that dubstep doesn't have to be about big room warbles. (Please excuse the poor choice in image for the video from the uploader!)



Rex The Dog made an appearance again, with another remix included on his debut LP. Thanks to the album format they're a little shorter than the original release but that doesn't bother me too much, and in a shocking revelation I actually like this one more than the remix of The Knife's Heartbeats on the same LP.



And finally another visit to Junior again. While I was looking up this tune on a whim I found out there's an instrumental version floating around, which seems weird to me because Anneli Drecker always nails it whenever she features on Röyksopp stuff. And even if you weren't a fan, there's plenty of breaks in the tune without her to get your fill of that synthy goodness.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Not So Sad

All over my twitter this morning I have seen the good news that someone has finally picked up a piece of Stenchman's new(ish) alias Philestine for release. I've long been an advocate of this new direction he was taking, especially given the dire state of the dubstep scene as of late. I've posted this one before as part of the Vague EP back in August, and it's still just as sweet.



He's mixing it up in other areas too, his latest offering as Suspicious Stench (a duo with his long-time bud Suspect) is very refreshing to hear, I am absolutely in love with the chill intro track of this EP. That's not to say there's not plenty of harder stuff to get stuck into though, from the get go Head In A Cupboard takes things a bit darker and even flips the tempo up to drum & bass territory around 1:30. The title track also is a highlight, it's the kind of thing I can tell Stench and co just have a good time making, and I have about as good a time listening to.



-Claude Van Foxbat

21

Hello all I am back after my birthday. Didn't do a birthday post this year because I just couldn't find enough stock to put in it. How ever my main man Stench has my back, unintentionally dropping a new Philestine EP on me birthday. Les get stuck in.



It's pretty much all I want from a Philestine EP, there's more of that trademark Oizo-esque wonkiness that I fell in love to begin with, but again with more of a focus on housey productions now he's free from his Stenchman alias. Pretty sure some of these have been up in preview form on his soundcloud before, but now they're out in full. At the minute I am in love with the bouncy bass meets twinkly synths combo on Just Clicked It, collaboration with his long time dubstep pal Suspect also under a new alias.

I'll have to toss him a few quid one day for all the tunes of his I love, Can't at the minute because of the whole turning 21 thing meaning I'm a bit skint but no matter, I'll enjoy the streams for now, and hope you do too!

-Claude Van Foxbat

Thursd'y Again

Oops, I was busy for a couple of days and forgot to post, lets fix that reet sharpish and hope that no-one notices, here's another dose of your (mostly) usually scheduled music things.


Keeping tabs on LIFU from the last post, digging his latest tune you can find above too, decidedly more laidback than the other Spitfire I have in my library courtesy of The Prodigy. First I've heard from him with vocal accompaniment, and I'm certainly looking forward to more.

Rex The Dog has come back swinging into my playlists again, he's dropped some new tunes as of late but I'm just itching for a follow up to the amazing The Rex The Dog Show. It's packed full of solid house tunes and sweet as synths, do yourself a favour and check it out!



Pretty Lights is also on a comeback for me, mainly because he's soundtracking me and my friend's antics around the sun drenched streets of Los Santos. As much as I say the more electro side of Filling Up The City Skies isn't as strong as the hip/trip hop side, it does have it's standout moments.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Self Employed

Being reduced to one day a week isn't too bad, I got videos to keep me occupied and that, even if rendering takes up 80% of my time these days. Here's some tunes seeing me through my rotoscoping today!

Sigmar Polke - The Plant

First up is a tune I barely missed out of my overview of Stenchman's new album. This one's a collabo between his usual vibes and his love letter to the 80's project Steel Stallions and it's pretty bloody great in all honesty, as usual with stench those samples are on point and that bouncy bassline is damn catchy.



Which put me back on his solid Philestine side project. The remix he did of DJ Shadow's Scale It Back keeps it fairly simple but I cannot get enough of it. Headphones are a must to appreciate this one to it's fullest. It's got little in common with the original other than Yukimi's solid vocal contribution, amazing what a little increase in tempo can do for a song.

Philestine · DJ SHADOW FT LITTLE DRAGON - SCALE IT BACK (PHILESTINE REMIX)

And funnily enough as I was going through footage frame by frame this little number with a fitting title came up. I've said it before but I'd love for more demos from flylo in the vein of this. Not to say I don't love the direction he's taking but I love me some instrumental hip hop goodness.



-Claude Van Foxbat