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.
I've mentioned in the past how much I adore the original Deus Ex's soundtrack. parts of it are limited and a little dated sounding tanks to being an unreal engine game fro m'99 but the atmosphere is there. Fast Forward to a couple days ago where I was made aware of this little project by OCRemix, I've heard of them in the past but never dug too deep. So I was interested a little, which only increased when I read that one of the original composers was a collaborator too. I checked it out and I'm digging it, so now I'm going to give a rundown of some of my favourites from it!
It kicks off with a drum & bass treatment of one of my original faves, NYC Streets. The original OST had bits and pieces of Drum & Bass style things in it, (after all games like System Shock 2, which was full of techno and drum and bass too also came out in '99) but it's still interesting to compare and contrast the difference in styles, both when freed of technical restraints of being implemented into a game engine and with the passage of time. Oh, and the download comes with a readme of artist comments too which I really, really dig. I'll be putting them in quotes before the players.
"zircon: As with the entire Deus Ex soundtrack, "NYC Streets" is extremely atmospheric and creates a wonderful, dark mood. With this remix, I wanted to expand on that feeling and create a sense of motion, energy, and action befitting of a cyberpunk adventure. Jill lent her voice to the track with airy pads, solo improvisation and melody to help add even more of an organic feel to the heavily electronic instrumental."
It's not limited to the first game however, our next one comes from the (not as well received) sequel Invisible War, which to be fair has a decent soundtrack also. I disagree with some points mentioned by Level 99 in the artists statement. It doesn't feel particularly 'Blade Runner' aside from the title (though I will concede going full Vangelis on this would have been a mite cliche). And second I don't think the tune's very hopeless feeling at all, I could easily (and have) chucked it into a cozy downtempo and trip hop playlist and it'd fit in just fine. Not to dwell on the negativity too much though, the tune itself is very gorgeous to listen to, and I absolutely adore that outro with the final key synced with the thunder.
"Level 99: "Tears in Rain," as implied by the title, was inspired by Blade Runner. Deus Ex has always had the feel of a Ridley Scott movie to me, and I derived inspiration from that as well as from the soundtracks of Thomas Newman, particularly Road to Perdition. There's this abject hopelessness throughout much of the series, and I tried to capture that here. While I didn't play Invisible War as much as the original Deus Ex, this song always stood out to me as being especially gorgeous in its mystique and sound design."
Returning to a more electronically oriented piece for my last pick. That sweeping into ticks all of my electronic, sci-fi and cyberpunk buttons in one stroke, Ma Chérie Nicolette incorporates both the theme of the eponymous Nicolette DuCLare's chateau but also the main theme of Deus Ex itself later on, which combined with the overall synthwavy feel of the thing makes for an interesting rework of the two. Jimmy Hinson doesn't have much to say about the tune in the accompanying artists readme which is a shame, especially given that this is one of the tunes with the original composer featuring too. I can relate though, it is sometimes difficult to talk about your process or any meanings behind your work. Still, the tune's a worthy addition to the compilation.
Hey guy's, it's Nite again, here with another post for you guys! Today I'm going to take you on a little trip, and introduce you to one of my favorite new(ish) artists to hit the electronic scene: Soular Order.
Soular Order, aka Jon Maynard, is a Bass Music Producer/Musician from Manchester, UK. Ranging from Future Garage to ethereal ambiance, Maynard uses a combination of Burial-esque Vocal sounds and Bass-saturated beats to create a track that is chill, yet invigorating at the same time. Whether it's something chill you're looking for, or you need something to dance to, Soular Order's got it for you.
Now that the introductions out of the way, here's a taste of what to expect from him:
Dan Baldwin - An Explosion Of Life And Death (2007)
After a hectic day of cleaning the house before my parents get back from America, in-between me running up and down the stairs to turn my sub down thanks to volume mastering, I've found some neat stuff to add to the post pile. Like this non-live version of the Justice remix for Soulwax's NY Excuse, to say it was released in 2005 it still sounds pretty fresh though if a little different from Justice's regular sound. I think I actually prefer this one to the one they included on A Cross The Universe actually.
Ellsworth Kelly - Spectrum Colours Arranged By Chance III (1951)
I'd long forgotten about this one, there's a bunch of good remixes on Locust Toybox's Remixes And Other Crap. From the title and metadata comments it seems Firth didn't care for a lot of the work on it, but they are quite nice to listen to every now and then. A reminder that you can get all of Locust Toybox's releases for free (and legally) over on this page
It's that time once again, where I go trawling through my files for listening/sharing purposes. I was tracking down Boards Of Canada's early and rarer works when that hip hops itch needed to be scratched once again. And I decided the only cure was a little bit of everything, in the vein of my older pick 'n mix styled posts. More words and music after the art, as usual.
Now, Boards Of Canada. Usually ambient electronic tunes right? well, back when they were signed to Skam Records, they donned the name Hell Interface for a couple remixes on a couple of compilation/sampler type dealies. Much like AFX, BoC took the opportunity spread out genre wise with the new name, leaving their techno infused ambient vibes behind for this one. And because of that we get a sweet techy sounding rework of Midnight Star's Midas Touch.
Mr. Scruff is a mainstay of mine for chilled out hip hop vibes, Keep It Unreal has some real quality on it, especially during the opening half. A lot of it seems to be overshadowed by the (admittedly brilliant) Get A Move On, so enjoy the track immediately after that: Midnight Feast. It's a slow moving number fitting of it's title, with some smatterings of piano throughout, not unlike Krush's Song 1 I put up not too long ago.
A brief turn to the upbeat before we dive back into mellow vibes, Mehdi's earlier works are pretty special themselves, his unique brand of hip hop/electro melding that I thought was underused on Lucky Boy is out in full force here, and it's terrific. The samples are well selected and brilliantly executed throughout, the break at 0:45 being the highlight of it all for me.
I mentioned the hip hop bits spliced between the D&B on the E-Z Rollers Weekend World before, there's only a couple so I got worn out on them for a long while. After I gave them a rest for about 5 months, this popped up again on shuffle, and it was fresh once again. It captures that hazy lounge feel very well indeed, not something you'd expect from a largely D&B record, but it works incredibly well both on the LP and by itself.
And lastly, the opening cut from Tricky's debut Maxinquaye. If we're talking hazy atmospherics, this one is the undisputed king. From the moment those beats come cascading in, backed by those swooping synths until the end, it just doesn't stop. Of course, the vocal stylings of Martina Topley-Bird play a big role in the atmosphere as well, as she almost whispers through the verses. A real classic, and probably the best stylistic example of trip-hop there is.
My life is pretty crazy these days, and I apologize for not posting more often. But you know how things go sometimes... I graduated a few weeks ago, discovered I didn't technically have the math credits to graduate, decided to start a non-profit organization, entered into a relationship that is both the best thing ever and ridiculously complicated, and to top it off I'm still trying to pay off my Moog Voyager and I don't have a job. So if I'm not here again, you can assume it has something to do with one of those things.
It's been awhile since any of us have posted any Todd Edwards, and let me tell ya, it's been worth the silence.
Todd has been posting on Facebook about a download site he is working on where you would be able to access his tracks and purchase them. TO tide us over til the actual debut of the site, he has promised that every Tuesday he will upload his unreleased remixes to his Soundcloud for free download.
The first Tuesday was this week, and his Soundcloud yields many Edwards jewels. I recommend you check it out! I'd post some up, but I've had difficulty with downloading from Soundcloud, so none of the files made it. Check it out! Maybe next Tuesday will see a high quality MP3 of his elusive DVNO mix!
I guess that's all for now. I'll get some of my summer jams up in the next couple days. :) Boba
Sure you do. If you are a producer, here's an opportunity to get some exposure! Kavinsky just announced a Nightcall remix contest. The grand prize is a digital release of the mix on Record Makers! The other rpizes are awesome stuff like vinyls, so go for it.
Gorillaz' comeback single "Stylo" was a bit of a damp squib in its original form, but these two remixes from man of the moment Alex Metric and blog favourite Louis La Roche more than make up for it. Louis' version is a slow chugging beat, revolving around a sampled funk riff with the odd vocal snippet thrown in, while Alex goes for a much more epic approach, starting out with a simple beat and chorus chant, before getting Moroder-y as fuck, then finally plunging head first into a full-on disco onslaught.
NOTE!! : Please leave comments, I'm sure Poka would love to know what you guys think of his music.
So Poka, tell us a bit about your background...
What were you doing before you started making music? And how did this talent come out? I started playing the guitar at 9 years old I think that was my first contact with music. Then somewhere around 12 years old, I got my first computer and around 14 I got this deejay program that you could make music with loops. So it was then that I started experimenting with computer music, I bought some magazines that had fruity loops 3 as a demo and since then I’ve been making almost every kind of music you can imagine on a daily basis! I guess it was and still is, a need for expression.
Where did the name Poka come from? Have you gone by any other names? It comes from my last name, I’ve been using since I was 12 I think. It’s the only name I’ve used so far as an artist.
If you could travel back to any point in time in music, which time would you choose and why? Maybe the 70s , definitely the most creative decade musically imo. So much disco, soul, rock all the fundamentals of modern music! Plus it was all about vinyl back then!
What artist/s has/have influenced you the most? Hmmm, a lot of artists have influenced my musical style but I guess a top 3 would be, Fatboy Slim (that’s when I first discovered about sampling), Armand Van Helden and of course, Daft Punk.
How would you define your own music? My style changes every year I think, at the moment I d say it’s a mix of French/Filter House with some nu-disco elements.
Explain the process in whipping a sweet house tune. Find a good sample, chop it up, rearrange it , add some dirty beats and a catchy bassline maybe some synths too and that’s all for me!
If you could remove any album/artist/track from history, what would you choose? “Pitbull – I Know You wWnt Me” and the “I’ll Do You Like a Truck” song. I just hate them. Many more of course but these came right into my mind.
What is, in your opinion, the best track you've ever made, and why? The ones I’ll make in the future :) When I look back I always find things I don’t like in my songs.
What songs/albums have you been listening to a lot recently? Lately I’ve been listening a lot to the Fear of Tigers album and some classical music.
Do you know of any artists that you feel are under-appreciated? Me of course! Seriously now, concerning my music style there a lot of people that seem very promising for the years to come, (most of them are in my top friends list in myspace)! Although I think it d be easier to name some artists that are over-appreciated imo.
What is your favorite House label (excluding GXC of course :P)? Favorite album from that label? I m not really into labels but I guess from currently active labels I d go for Kitsune and Ed Banger. Fave album is Justice – Cross, very innovative sounds there .( I m talking about new stuff here , my all time fave album is Daft Punk’s Homework ).
I can't get enough of your GXC stuff, what does the future hold for Poka? Can you give us any insider info? The GXC stuff belongs to the past! Really I wonder how people liked these tracks! The sound quality is terrible mainly cause my studio equipment was kinda primitive then... Anyway, now I think my production skills are improving day by day. About the future now, I’ve been preparing some new tracks over the past 3 months , most probably I’ll release a 4 track EP till June but I cant say anything more yet , just that I want the tracks to sound perfect , so no need to rush ! Plus , I’ve been remaking all my old tracks so make sure to check my soundcloud profile often , I ll post them there for free download . Finally , apart from music making I d like to do some more dj’ing this year and party all over the world ! That’s what it’s all about anyways!
Thanks ilictronix and Prez for the interview! love , poka
Poka was nice enough to create a sweet mix for the site, as well as include three of his prized tracks, in high quality. Not only is the mix incredible, but it's an ilictronix exclusive! Enjoy!
1) Daft Punk - Da funk 2) Poka - Party In me (2010 Edit) 3) Mr Oizo - It Takes Two 4) Moulinex - Lover In Me 5) Le Knight Club - Nymphae song 6) Leonardus and Babar - Your Eyes 7) Cassius - 1999 8) Peppe le Funk - Floor and Order 9) Silver Disco - Send Me Out For Love 10) Siriusmo – Gummiband 11) Sebago – Hands on Me 10) Poka - Still Dont Wanna 11) Tom Middleton – Remember the Love 12) Romanthony - Hold On
Today I had the pleasure of having a chat with Leeds-based musician Lee Dunn over Twitter. Over the last couple of years he's been making a name for himself as one half of cut-up electro group Youth Attack!, but more recently he's started a new solo project, Ghosts Of Venice, which focuses on disco and house. He's already reworked Club Cavalry, Feadz and Shakira under his new moniker, and has his debut solo effort "I Learned From The Best" coming out later this month for FREE download! Here's what we nattered on about...
Hello GoV. If you had to describe your sound in three words, what would they be?
Probably "Party Filter House", I think that best describes it.
What do you think was the moment you decided "that's it, I wanna make music"? There wasn't really a defining moment, I've been in bands/DJing for many years on and off. It kind of just happened. One day Chris [Petty, the other half of Youth Attack!] and I just decided to make a track together, and everything naturally progressed from there. The Ghosts Of Venice stuff came after my holiday in Ibiza with Jaymo and Grum, which made me fall in love with House music all over again.
With your new Ghosts of Venice material, which artist (if any) have you tried to emulate?
I wanted to do something that went back to the Crydamoure and Roulé era. The Ghost of Bangalter haha. It kind of evolved from that really.
What was the first track you ever made, under any band or alias? I recorded an album with my first band, it was terrible. I think we sold about 100 copies of the CD, most of them were probably to our Mums.
Haha sounds fun. So, let's talk about your club night Kill The Rhythm. Who's been your favourite guest? I think my favourite guest was In Flagranti, he's such a nice dude. But loads of our friends played the night, Hostage, Joe And Will Ask?, etc. So they're always good ones. We've stopped doing it now. But we've got a few dates planned in other cities in the new year.
Didn't know you'd stopped doing the night. That pretty much renders my next question useless haha. Haha. We didnt make a big deal of it, it just had to happen. We had big names every week. I just had to take a step back and concentrate on making music. We're starting the Kill The Rhythm label in the new year too. I couldnt do everything! haha.
What's been on your stereo recently then? The new Ocelot album, Those dudes are gonna blow up. I'm currently remixing the first single off the album due out new year. I've been listening to Le Principle, Paul Johnson, Strip Steve. The XX album has been on heavy rotation for me as well. My favourite band of 2009.
Time for a good old hypothetical: If you could pick one song to erase from history, what would it be? Boomtown Rats 'I Dont Like Mondays'. Fair enough Bob Geldof did a lot for charity, but the guy is an idiot. He's been milking that song for about 20 years now!
Geldof's a cunt. So what does the new year hold for Ghosts of Venice, Youth Attack! and the rest of your crew? Any top secret dancefloor weapons in the works? Well well, got some big things planned. I'm hoping to head over to Chicago in a few months to work with Le Principle on a GoV track, some big remixes coming out soon too. There's an EP in the works, and a Youth Attack! Album I'm starting on. We're launching the Kill The Rhythm record label which I mentioned before, some really good stuff coming out on it too. There's also a few other big collaborations hopefully!
Finally, Coke or Pepsi? Coke all the way!
True dat. Thanks a lot for talking to us :) Pleasure's all mine :)
Such a nice lad. We've been loving his remixes of Feadz and Heads We Dance on the blog, and the other day he sent us this nice little Christmas present. Enjoy :)
Oh, come on Basement Jaxx, you're spoiling us now. A mere three months after Scars dropped, Felix and Simon have unleashed ANOTHER new album, Zephyr. But how does it stand against its predecessor? I'll get to that, but first, a bit of background info...
Made during the studio sessions for Scars, the original plan was to release a double album: one disc of the lads' new direction of "soundscape" ambience, and another of the signature quirky house we've come to expect from Basement Jaxx. Felix and Simon later decided to release the latter as a standalone album (Scars) and release the "soundscape" material (Zephyr) at a later date.
So is it any good? Well, in short, yes. While we got a taster of Jaxx's new direction with Scars, it's on Zephyr that it really shines through. While the Jaxx's usual carnival of wonky guitar riffs, mashed up samples and demented synthwork are all present here, they are transformed from sure-fire house megahits into ethereal nuggets of freeform chillout. The term they love to use to describe it so much, "soundscape", is apt. Putting on one of the few vocal cuts "Where R We Now" or the fantastic jazzy ambience of closing tune "Ascension" and closing your eyes immediately conjures mental images of vast desert wastelands or lush forests teaming with life (I personally get visions of elephants in Native American headdresses having picnics with dinosaurs on a giant trampoline made of marshmallows in a reconstruction of the grand canyon, but it probably varies from person to person).
Normally I wouldn't be able to listen to an entire album of this kind of stuff without getting bored, but at only 33 minutes in length the album is finished before I do. With only ten tracks here, however, and taking into account that three of them are under two minutes in length, this could have actually used a few more tracks to flesh it out a little. Short albums are always a double edged sword. The good news is, if you don't like what you're hearing, it's not long until the next brainwave. The bad news is, if you do like what you're hearing, it's not long until it's over.
But enough of that, what do I think of it overall? Well, while it's not quite up to the standard that Scars set for it, Zephyr is still a decent listen and is worth a few listens if you're in the mood.
