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

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

For The Archives

We return to a familiar format this week: tunes I've discovered along the way that I'm posting to remind myself to pick up some point soon (probably when the next Bandcamp Friday happens!). I initially thought that this post would be a bit thin on the ground, but it turns out that I forgot to wishlist a few things on Bandcamp so now it's looking a lot healthier. Let's get into it.

Richard Hamilton - Archive I (1981)

First up is something that I would have sworn was in my collection somewhere, but like so many other songs and LPs over time it never did. At the time it was the peak of me being into this kind of sound - between Bibio and the other Warp crew I had a real hankering for this kind of off kilter hip-hop. The album this is from, Lucky Shiner was Gold Panda's debut - and what a debut it was. You couldn't escape this song around then if the YouTube algorithm had even the slightest idea that you liked electronic music. I distinctly remember eventually biting the bullet and saying "oh, go on then" and giving it a listen and really liking it. So how does it hold up 10 years on? Well, I still like it that's for sure, but that itch I had back then for this sound isn't as prominent as it was. I don't mean that to be too negative though, as I said it's still a really neat track - part of me is really into that frantic sample triggering style. And now would be a good time to pick it up, as it's being re-issued for the 10th anniversary with a bunch of bonus tracks as well. Better late than never, eh?



For all my love of Modeselektor I am very much unfamiliar with a great deal of their output. I have vague memories of Art & Cash, the former track of the EP being some predictably pretentious synth unpleasantness. That doesn't excuse me never checking out the remixes though (though in my defence, there are lots and lots of them!). Enter the SBTRKT remix of Art & Cash, I've been thinking a lot about SBTRKT recently - (I was thinking of doing a Retro Review post on his debut mainly, an album that still sounds real fresh to my ears but I digress) and I realised I'd never heard this remix, so I gave it a spin. While certainly different to the sound of his debut, you can still find some distinctly SBTRKT hallmarks, Sampha on the vocals for one. It's an incredible remix, turning the rolling electro of the original Cash into a much more lighthearted 2-step Garage style. I am totally loving the 8-bit style warbles throughout this one, reminding me very much of Flying Lotus' Kill Your Co-Workers from around the same time in that aspect.



And finally, a tale as old as time. Yet another holdover that I discovered way back on Grooveshark(!) and have been meaning to check out ever since. Grooveshark's recommends sent me in the direction of a bunch of artists I might not have found otherwise, tucked away on Planet Mu (μ-Ziq's label, naturally) is an album by Skyler McGlothlin under their Nautilis alias - the rhythmically pleasing to say Are You An Axolotl.

I'm not familiar with Skyler's other work, but I can tell you I fall in love all over again whenever this track comes up - it appeals to that side of me that I always struggle to pin down a good way to describe, from those times where I would stay up far too late making weird animations and watching [adult swim] bumps (and jamming to their exceptional music choices for them). And that's actually a really apt comparison for this track, Why It Got To Be So Damn Tough would fit right in as a piece of bump music, (I haven't checked but it wouldn't surprise me if it already had been used as such) the combination of the simple guitar loop backed with beats and occasionally cut up and turntable-ised is practically the distilled formula for what they'd choose for the music. Reminding me a little of Benn Jordan's work as The Flashbulb, but with a more trip/hip-hop style, I think it's an absolutely stellar choice as an album closer.



I'm surprised how well this post flows together, normally when I make a post like this is can be a bit all over the place but these three play out togteher quite nicely. Posts may still be a bit thin on the ground going forward as IRL things continue to pick up, but I plan to restore some more old posts in the meantime as well. Blogger's had a facelift which makes should make parsing the code of those older posts much easier than before, in a pinch I may re-publish some as new posts as I did in the early days of lockdown so apologies in advance for any re-runs!

And as always - Stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Bank Holiday (2020 Re-post)

NOTE: Hi there! I'm going through the backcatalogue and re-publishing all the posts I can find. I'm re-posting them as new articles too just so there is visible content going up. This post is originally from April 2015.

Enjoy,
-CVF

Ah, Bank Holiday Monday: a British tradition. Not so much of an impact this one seeing as I'm only in Uni on Wednesdays these days but hey ho any excuse. So sit tight as I regale you with audio offerings from my collection.

David Hockney - Yves Marie in the Rain (1973)

As you may have seen on our FB I went thorough a bit of a Chemical Brothers thing, working my way out of it now but I will still say Exit Planet Dust is still the cure for what ails me. And the opening track will always have a place in my heart as well as the annals of Great British Electronic.



Keepin' it on the isles, I've been looking back at my 2-step shenanigans I enjoyed as a yoof. Back in 2002, The Streets dropped Original Pirate Material. The lyrical content may be a bit dated these days (dropping references to Nintendo 64's and that) but as a soon-to-be-teen in the grimy post-industrial landscape of the north there was no record that I connected with better. That's changed since then of course, but I'd be lying if I didn't have a soft spot for tunes like this.



And one last local tune, what would be a post from me without a little Nightmares On Wax?. An early highlight on Thought So..., 195lbs is a perfect example of the jam style structure of the LP, as it was recorded in parts on a road trip as N.O.W upped sticks from the UK and settled in Spain.



-Claude Van Foxbat

ilictronix Podcast: Upbeat & 'Ardcore

"Claude brings some smooth deep flavors that pleasantly bring in the new season. Adam tips his fedora for a "EUPHORIC POWER HOUR (I'm so sorry)" and brings some hi-nrg tracks.

Going up a day late because Adam uploaded slightly later than usual (also I fell asleep oops). Regardless we are back for this week! The description he wrote above really does it justice. I continue on my quest to break the mold of what I feel like is stuff I usually pick, mixing it up with a purely upbeat selection for this week, starting with the buttery smooth Mount Amazing 2 from Soichi Terada, and I try my best to keep the vibe of that track alive throughout, keeping things eastern with the first (of what will be many!) appearances of TeddyLoid, taking us on a surprisingly blog-house nostalgia train before checking in with what Shinichi Osawa's up to as of late too. A visit from Philestine too, featuring that deliciously nostalgic 'Show Me Love'-esque organ synth that coloured so many moments of my youth. We round things out in very very smooth fashion too, with back to back tracks from ZHU and Hudson Mohawke. I haven't been able to stop looping the ZHU track for roundabout 2 weeks now, me and Adam also go down memory lane again over the fact its a MSTRKRFT remix, there was a time when they were coming out every week! And we close things out with the out 'n out vibes of HudMo's Scud Books, I mention this in the episode but this is one of those tunes that found me at the perfect time and it will always transport me back to that place. It helps you can get down to it too.

Adam sheds all pretences this week and treats us to an all you can eat buffet of Hardcore & Hi-NRG. Once again I'm emboldened for when I eventually do do that Eurobeat episode I keep talking about (it'll be soon™ I promise). We joke around the topic and all but I'm going to echo what I've said in past episodes about stuff like this; there is no such thing as 'Guilty Pleasure', you like what you like! And don't let anyone make you feel bad for doing so. Here at ilictronix (as you will have heard if you've listened to a couple of these episodes) like a whole ton of the spectrum when it comes to electronic music, and it really shows with how passionate Adam can get when describing some of these. Tracklist as usual below:

Tracklist:
Intro: Soichi Terada - Mount Amazing 2


Claude’s picks:
TeddyLoid - White Out
Mondo Grosso - Labyrinth (Album Mix)
Philestine - Skippy The Bush Kangamoo
ZHU - In The Morning (MSTRKRFT Remix)
Hudson Mohawke - Scud Books


Adam’s Picks
Vibes & Wishdokta - Givin It All I Got
Lone - Melted
Force Mass Motion - The Pressor
Edit V - Burning Love
Jimmy J & Cru-l-t - Take Me Away

Outro:
Kaotic Chemistry - The Come Down




-Claude Van Foxbat

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: 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

Heating Up

Luke Chueh - The Soundtrack (To My Life) (2004)

It's a heatwave in the UK and the footy's on the telly, and England's currently winning to boot so you can bet everyone's going to go a bit mental. So I thought I'd break trend and get a little more upbeat with my selections, a particularly nostalgia fuelled one at that. I've held off on putting this one up for a while but I think it's high time it makes an appearance. Despite being made for an in-game radio station (and one that was a parody of turn of the millennium pop at that) with a made-up and slightly crass artist name, Stripe Summer is legitimately a really good garage song. I will wholly admit that the nostalgia's a big part of that, but I will always have a soft spot for this sound.



I can't talk nostalgia and the like without an honourable shout-out to the tune that helped land me this writing gig in the fist place. Paul Rayner's Feel Me is of a unique breed of house that was all over the place when I was a young 'un, you'll find all sorts of names for it, from Organ House to simply Bassline. There's a pretty in depth tale about the tune and how I came into possession of this copy,which you can read in the comment section over on this post. We spent many a night listening to this and tunes like it loitering in car parks in beat up hatchbacks, I make sure to give it a spin every summer or so to have a bit of a wistful look back.



And just to complete the nostalgia trifecta, a lil' bit more vocal garage courtesy of Artful Dodger. Again back at the turn of 2000 you couldn't have a radio on without this or Modjo, or Stardust or any other number of one-off dance hits making an appearance. I will standby and say that twinkly synth is still gorgeous, and the vocal has aged pretty well all things considered, though I feel that goes for a lot of vocal house tunes. Looking back it doesn't have quite as much variation as I would have liked but then again, it's a radio-friendly single so it was never going to push any boundaries.



I hope you all liked this little timewarp back a good 17/18 years or so, I'll be back same time next week with more of the usual. As usual make sure you all stay safe, and enjoy the music.

-Claude Van Foxbat

Lost Angels

Jean-Michel Basquiat - The Dingoes That Park Their Brains with their Gum (1988)



Earlier this week I was re-reading my posts about the importance of archiving music (and art in general really), and I was inspired to take that mantle up once again. Revisiting the massive pile of rare and obscure FlyLo I picked up at the start of this year. Among that pile is a compilation that was put together for the LA Times simply called LA Times. It's full of otherwise unreleased tunes and other quality pieces from around the (fittingly enough) Los Angeles era. I listened to Los Angeles to death and I thought I was sick of it. And then tunes like Momma Dingo roll up and remind me why I played it so much in the first place, I'm a sucker for that rough round the edges feel of FlyLo's sound around this time.



Sticking with the them, there's also Glendale Galleria from '09, released on Tectonic and sharing a B-Side with Joker, it's quite a bit different from FlyLo's usual output. I'd call it a one-off, but it's actually got a lot in common with Crosswerved from Ideas+Drfats+Loops in that it's basically FlyLo doing a garage-come-dubstep tune. There's flavours of Burial on here, something that holds even more true if you check out the 'original version' on the LA Times compilation I mentioned above that's even more Buial-esque. The final outro is gorgeous and I wish it had a little more time dedicated to it but otherwise a solid addition to the catalogue.



And finally because I've made it a mission to rid the world of the curse of the Japanese Bonus Track, and because frankly it's a fantastic album closer, here is The Things You Left from Until The Quiet Comes. I will always adore that bass, and I knew it since my ears first heard it that that would be the case. Deliciously smooth, short and sweet, a perfect sound to go out on. 2020 edit: This one probably won't work but it's the only streamer I could find, legit or otherwise. Apologies if so!



-Claude Van Foxbat

Rainy Days

Kiyoshi Saito - Coral (1958)

After a couple of weeks of themed playlists, you'll be pleased to hear that this time we're back to the usual format. Starting right with more obscure Flying Lotus tunes, Catacombs is a bit of an enigma, for one this is billed as the extended version, but I can't for the life of me find any evidence of a non-extended version. Pedantry aside, the tune itself is a terrific listen, the Thundercat-esque style on here is buttery smooth and an absolute treat for the ears. I say esque because nowhere does it say Thundercat did the noodling for this one, it's well worth your time.



Following an impromptu synth jam at work, I turned one of my teammates onto Analog Worms Attack. A lot of folks don't realise there's more to Oizo than Flat Beat, and that the man's sill going strong to this day. I can see why though, the LP of Analog Worms Attack is a different beast than Flat Beat. Oizo's house-influenced tunes are in the minority here, replaced with a distinctly gritty and rough-cut hip-hop come electro sound. I adore it, but those looking for more flat antics will be let down. Here's one of the less abrasive numbers on there, Bobby Can't Dance



I've been revisiting Stenchman as of late too. I've tons of material from the guy over the years, and he's got more going than just the Dubstep of days gone by. Looking over the list I spy quite a few that I'd like to put up, but this one ended up making the cut. Silicon Future is definitely heavily Garage inspired, while Stench usually puts stuff in that style out under his Philestine moniker this one comes across more of a meeting of the two aliases, which is something that'd start to appear on his later free compilations. The tune's as good as ever too, hard to believe it was 2012 when I picked this up for the first time.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Au Revoir 2017 (New Year's Roundup)

Raphael Kirchner - Happy New Year (1899)

After missing last year, I'm back once more with a (now semi) Annual track dump! 2017 has been a wild ride on all fronts for sure, but you're reading this right now and that means you've made it this far. I'll echo what I said 2 years ago; Thanks for reading and listening over the last year. If you're a new reader I hope you stick around, and if you're a seasoned ilictronix veteran here's to another 12 months of tunes for you. Remember to stay safe this New Year's Eve and as always, enjoy the music. I'll see you all in 2018!

OverClocked ReMix · 02 halc - Human Soldier

-Claude Van Foxbat

New Year's Roundup 2015

Dabs Myla - Moonlight Swim (2013)

Another year gone by of me putting words on your screen with occasional musical accompaniment. It's been a long time. If you're new I hope you stick around, and if you're a seasoned ilictronix veteran here's to another 12 months of tunes for you. As is tradition have a trackdump of stuff I'm feelin' to fuel your NYE and as always: stay safe, enjoy the music and I'll see you on t' other side.

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

-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

Things I've Seen

It is hot as shit right now. And I'm ding all I can to avoid rendering videos on my rig to hopefully keep the temps down, so I had a look around to see what I had waiting for me to post. Starting with more from my recent bud Celadon City, if ever there were a time his tunes were apt it'd be now with this heat. Once again he kills it on the intro, and once again I have yet another song to add to my summer collection.



Something a little different now, got a line dropped on twitter the other day which doesn't often happen with promos for me outside of Mississippi a while back. But it works out because you have to keep your pitch punchy. I actually meant to put this up last time but it didn't fit with the techy post. A duo from a bit further south than I, with laid back 2-step garage-esque track and a video that does it's best to keep the spirit of slightly surreal dance music videos alive.



And finally one last tune from Kevatta that I could have done with last night as I hoped for a breeze to come through my window. Once again perfectly scratches my hip hop instrumental itch. Definitely going to keep my eye on their feed from now on for more of this.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Bank Holiday

Ah, Bank Holiday Monday: a British tradition. Not so much of an impact this one seeing as I'm only in Uni on Wednesdays these days but hey ho any excuse. So sit tight as I regale you with audio offerings from my collection.

David Hockney - Yves Marie in the Rain (1973)

As you may have seen on our FB I went thorough a bit of a Chemical Brothers thing, working my way out of it now but I will still say Exit Planet Dust is still the cure for what ails me. And the opening track will always have a place in my heart as well as the annals of Great British Electronic.



Keepin' it on the isles, I've been looking back at my 2-step shenanigans I enjoyed as a yoof. Back in 2002, The Streets dropped Original Pirate Material. The lyrical content may be a bit dated these days (dropping references to Nintendo 64's and that) but as a soon-to-be-teen in the grimy post-industrial landscape of the north there was no record that I connected with better. That's changed since then of course, but I'd be lying if I didn't have a soft spot for tunes like this.



And one last local tune, what would be a post from me without a little Nightmares On Wax?. An early highlight on Thought So..., 195lbs is a perfect example of the jam style structure of the LP, as it was recorded in parts on a road trip as N.O.W upped sticks from the UK and settled in Spain.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Preloadin'

Managing to remember to update here after that film fest slip up, surprisingly my sleep schedule has remained largely intact. The upload has been replaced by an even longer wait now though, as you read this I'm still downloading the PC version of GTA V at some occasionally abysmal speeds. Like I said before tho, it's given me a chance to go digging for potential custom soundtracks and with that, let's get stuck in.



Icarus return with another tune set for the summer. Though unlike Cassia this one's not for the mid-day get togethers, it's for the 9PM just before the sun goes down and you're going out moments. That bassline's been rattling my shelves all day, and I'm a sucker for a 2-step beat that reminds me of my garage listenings as a youth. Should be a nice addition to the streets of LS.

Returned to Stench's 2015 release for the first time in a while to look for soundtrack ammo and I wasn't left wanting. Even more 2-step shenanigans here, with Stench's trademark bass at work behind it. Surprised I missed this one out in my review of the thing, it's a solid addition for sure.



And while we're on the subject of garage and my youth, let's not neglect to mention one of the best garage tunes of all time that was actually already included on a GTA soundtrack. The original track is fine sure, there are better songs on the Sneaker Pimp's Becoming X though, but this remix is a cult classic that has earned it's reputation. That bassline is still savage nearly 17 years later.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Because You're Freeeeeeeeee

I am done for two weeks, so have a break form words and have some sngs instead yo. Tunes after the art as per us'.

Jim Dine -Four Hearts (1969)

More housy goodness from Stench's Philestine alias, after having hear the preview for this one for so long it's ice to hear it in its full glory. That main synth line is straight from the locally produced house tunes I used to listen to in the early 00's with that modern garage spin on things, it's sick.



As you all well know, I looked back into stuff I listened to circa the early 00's again not too long ago, there I fell in love all over again and found a new addition to my list of favourite house producers A:xus it seems is criminally underrated, which is a shame because he's still making stuff that gives me that feeling the early 00's house did. This one came out in '09 but I'll be damned if that soulful house combo isn't just timeless, I absolutely adore this one.



Speaking of classic house now would be a good time to revive by far the most famous and hardest to find of Felix's remixes; the Heavenly House version of Sinnerman. Shot to fame again not too long back after HTC used it in an ad campaign, while an odd choice given it's house and all I can't fault hem for it, it's a quality tune to this day.



-Claude Van Foxbat

With A Bang 3: Revelations

That time again, where CVF lays down some ammo for your prospective new year's get togethers or whatever you lot are planning. The one time of year (one day late this time) where I ration the words for this one and instead just hand out some ammo to blast on NYE to make sure yours is the best sounding night on the block. So without further ado here we go!

Takashi Murakami - Tan Tan Bo (2001)

You go on out and have yourselves a awesome night with this lot and as always stay safe, enjoy the music and have yourselves a very nice New Year from all of us here at ilictronix! We'll see you on the other side in 2015!

Philestine · GENIUS IN A BOTTLE

City Series Vol. 1 - Leeds (Playlist broken as of 2020)

Putting into motion something I've been wanting to do for a while now, here's a series where we get our writing team to make a playlist for their city. Could be inspiration, could be local acts, could just be you dig the sounds - whatever. Starting with me, I'm up north in the UK in Leeds, so naturally I have to start off with LFO and their amazing Warehouse mix. There's other local flavours in there too, like Soft Cell (Fun Fact: My dad went to college with Mark Almond here), LSK and of course Nightmares On Wax.

So there you have it, tried to cover a lot of bases genre wise so I apologise if the grime/garage/dubstep turn at the end is a bit sudden. Regardless I hop you enjoy and stay tuned for the Atlanta and Chicago installments courtesy of Adam and Evan!

-Claude Van Foxbat

We Are Six! (And I Am 20)

In a happy accident, both mine and the blogs birthday fall on the same day. I like to take time out to thank all y'all for supporting us through the rough and good times, and also my newfound stellar writing crew without whom I'd still be flying the good ship Ilictronix solo. But enough o' that, onto songs!

We've come a long way, baby

This here is just gonna be a rundown of some of my all time favourites, starting with my long time Nordic buddies The Knife. Their third LP Silent Shout is one of the few albums I'd rank up there in my 10/10 list. Doubly so if you get your hands on the special edition with the live show on it. Enjoy the gorgeous rendition of Heartbeats from that LP.



Not often I dwell too much into hip hop, but I owe this track among others for setting me off on the second wave of my instrumental interest. Thanks to that randomer on the now defunct turntable.fm for introducing me to this cat. Never get tied of this one, a little short but just as sweet every single time.



No reflective post would be complete without a shouout to the electronic music of my yoof. Last time it was Paul Rayner with my smalltown cruising anthem Feel Me. This time it's the frankly amazing garage rework of the Spin Spin Sugar. Just as good today as it was in '98, perhaps even more with the new garage revival thing.



I think Warp also deserve a shoutout for all they've done for me, easily one of my favourite record labels ever. And of course a big thank you to the Aphex Twin too, for setting me off into the world of more experimental electronic (or IDM in the blogosphere). Celebrate with one of my favourite AFX tracks, stick around for the absolutely killer outro starting at 4:48!



And that be that, hope to see y'all again this time next year, until then keep on keeping on, stay safe and enjoy the music!

-Claude Van Foxbat