Twitterview with Lee Dunn (Ghosts of Venice/Youth Attack!)

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 :)

Janet Jackson - Make Me (Ghosts of Venice Edit)

Keep it funky,
Joe

Quick Review: Basement Jaxx "Zephyr"

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.

I give "Zephyr" by Basement Jaxx 3.75/5

Now here are my picks from the record :)

Basement Jaxx · Basement Jaxx - Walking In The Clouds

Basement Jaxx · Basement Jaxx - Ascension

BONUS!

Basement Jaxx · Basement Jaxx feat. Blue James, Erick Morillo & Harry Romero - Red Alert (Erick Morillo & Harry ‘Choo Choo’ Romero Vocal Mix)

Keep it funky,
Joe

This is so amazing

Thanks to The Silver Disco, I just obtained to french tracks from the 70's (YES. 70s) that sound 20 years ahead of its time. The band name is Space and these guys just blow my mind. Hopefully they will do the same to you too :)

Wait till the bass kicks in and it gets so much better (especially deliverance)





Enjoy these Epic French Choons from the 70s

Nite

The Ilictronix guide to Dubstep, part 1: Skream

I've been listening to quite a lot of dubstep recently, so I thought I'd share some of my collection with you all. Over the next few weeks, I'll be featuring some of my favourite dubstep artists in a mini series.

It seemed logical to kick off with perhaps the best known name in dubstep, genre pioneer Skream. His track "Midnight Request Line" was an underground smash back in 2006, and now he's back with two new singles, old skool jungle cut "Burnin' Up" and reverb-drenched stomper "Memories of Third Base". That's not to say he's not been busy during that big three-year gap though, delivering 5 installments of his "Skreamizm" EP series and powerful remixes for the likes of Klaxons, Distance, Bat For Lashes and, of course, La Roux. Here are a selection of my favourite Skream cuts.













Keep it funky, Joe