As we know, every journey needs a soundtrack, and me? After a long day at college I just wanna walk home and get my swagga on along the way, and I'm sure you lot do as well, so today I'm picking my current favourites; the ones that make you feel like an unstoppable king as you saunter down the street :).
A bit like this
I like the kinda song that has a bit of funk and catchiness to walk to, the kind where you end up taking steps to the beat without realising, as demonstrated in classic Oizo fashion by the man himself, I DARE you not to get you groove on to this one!
A bit more funk and a little less electronic fiddling this time, and also featuring Del Tha Funkee Homosapien on the vocals. It's real old, but the track itself is timeless, due in part to that ever so catchy sample and Del's flowing rhymes. who says we only post house? :P.
This track is the same as Around The World and Eple in the "that song I know but I don't" category, and like both of them it's an amazing tune, highlighting Scruff's excellent sample work, essentially making the song his own. If you have an ear for funky tunes, this will be your jazz flavoured fix for a while, that gets sweeter everytime you come back to it.
This isn't to say I only like that stuff to walk to, no sir, sometimes you just gotta have some lovely electro. For example, Soulwax does it again with another excelent remix that manages to remain interesting despite being the same few bars repeated over and over. Oh, and it's about 10 minutes long too, so it's perfect for those loooooong trips, Enjoy :).
Topping off the Electro side of things is Zombie Nation. This version of Worth It is from the EP and is slightly slower than the album one, making it just the ideal tempo. This is by far my favourite to walk around to, and even though my favourites change weekly, this track remains in my playlists, which I only only do to truly great tracks, like Da Funk. And now I'm rambling, better shut up and post the player already.
To all of you who walk to your daily distraction, be it work or school, Enjoy. That tops off another installment of Pick 'N Mix, hope you have as much fun with these tracks as I do, stay safe, enjoy the tracks, don't get caught and make like Leo up there wherever you go and strut like you mean it!
No street is safe from my swagger,
-Claude Van Foxbat
This post. this was the one I anxiously awaited doing when I started this series. Some of you will like it, many of you will probably not, Some of you may even grow to love it as much as I do, as is the case with the majority of these Warped posts. It peaked at number #11 in the UK album charts, being another case of Warp's success stories and probably their most unconventional and experimental release. And you know it's going to be good when Aphex himself describes it as "like standing in a power station on Acid" But that's enough chit chat, let's get stuck into it shall we?
Selected Ambient Works Volume II is one of my favourite albums of all time, (and I'm not kidding when I say it owes me weeks of my life back, it's over two hours long) I'm sure most of you think of grinding beats and snare rushes when you think of AFX, but this album is full on ambient in the style of Brian Eno's soundscapes of his "Ambient: X" series. It's unique in that none of the tracks (apart from one) are actually named, Instead of a tracklist on the rear you are given this image:
Confusing right? that is, until you learn that the symbols match up with pictures in the linear notes. an example of one can be seen here, showing the one named track, Blue Calx, and a full decode and explanation can be found on this page. I love that idea, leaving the names entirely up to the listener/viewer, and is only the beginning of the mysterious properties of SAW2. Also, no matter how natural and smooth the tracks sound, remind yourself that ALL these tracks are electronic. Yes, I was blown away too.
Now, onto the actual tracks; as mentioned before it is entirely ambient with only one or two tracks featuring any kind of beats at all, but it's not about that, it's about the textures and compositions of them. Some are dark, some are light, but each has it's own specific feel. Here are some of my favourites (leaving out most of the more sinister tracks to make it easier to listen to)
Take for example, Track One (or Cliffs, if you've seen the pie charts). This is where you'll decide if you like, dislike or love the album. I'll let the music talk for me on this one. turn the lights off, relax, and just listen
Arguably the most "known" track from SAW2 is 'Rhubarb', it's been used in plenty of things from animation shorts to service testing for the BBC. And it's also arguably one of the best, I can't really describe the feeling, a combination of melancholy and nostalgia maybe? Regardless, give it the same treatment as Cliffs and you can't go wrong.
I feel the album flows much better with all the mellow tracks together, but that's not to say I hate the more sinister pieces. sometimes you gotta creep yourself out you know? oh, and this track isn't included on the US release so enjoy, it's a semi-exclusive! (2019 update; thanks to the advent of streaming, no longer as exclusive. Hope this works for all you in the US)
Moving back to the relaxed side of the spectrum, the opener from the second CD and the explicitly named track, Blue Calx. Picture a more ambient version of Nil from the first half of this post and this is what you'll get. You know what to do. (2019 update: oddly not named on the spotify track listing for some reason. Oh well, much the same for all the others I suppose)
Another quasi-popular track and one of the more accessible from the album is Z Twig, much like Rhubarb it has that "I've heard this before but I dont know where" feeling. Stay tuned for this one cropping up again in a themed post soon, I have other plans for it.... planned.
Time now for Exclusive number two, released only on the vinyl version and hard as hell to find a decent rip of on the net (I Scoured for months to find this copy), enjoy a 320 of probably the best track from the whole album; Stone In Focus. It's not posted on any blogs as far as I can tell. it's fascinating in that the little click in the background changes tempo sporadically, and the song speeds and slows in the same way. Amazing stuff. (2019 update, not on spotify this one, so youtube embed it's got to be. Also not as rare as it was 10 years ago, you can buy it digital and direct from the man himself here
Annnnnd time for one last track before I wrap this one up, Lichen is more of a classical piece, it's lovely for doing nothing at all to. So much so that AFX himself used to put it in his sets as a cool down song in the late 90's, and the crowds loved it, maybe for the occasional wave of bass, maybe for the smoothness of the sounds. You decide for yourself.
So there you have it, Selected Ambient Works Volume II in a nutshell. And it sums up Warp pretty well too: a label releasing experimental music that are moderately popular, and then become cult classics that people like me get to rant and rave about.
To all those who aren't a fan of Ambience; I apologise, BUT I will say that you should really tune in for the next few entries as we enter the prime time of Warp in the mid-nineties, they're a lot more accessible and less... shall we say "out there"
As I mentioned before I went to Laundry Day yesterday, so it’s time for another festival review I guess…
Because Laundry Day was an open air festival that happened during daytime, some pretty fun stuff happened you’d normally miss: I saw a 14 year old girl vomiting at 2 o’clock, some guys stealing fire extinguishers backstage and trying to make a foam party by themselves ... But above else the festival was a safe one considering all the buzz since the Love Parade incident.
The first noteworthy performance I saw was a live performance by the Waxdolls. This electropunk duo from Ghent (off course they’re Belgians) knew how to work a crowd. It’s probably best to describe them as a mix between the Subs (they bring the same energy to the stage) and MSTRKRFT back in the day (combining rock with electronic bleeps)…
After only one year of existence, Waxdolls shared the stage with Vitalic, Digitalism, and Alter Ego. And if that still doesn’t convince you these boys are doing a great job, here’s their most recent single:
And here’s another track from their first album High Speed Killer Ride (buy it, these guys rock!):
The next performance I want to talk about is by CJ Bolland. He was giving us an amazingly consistent techno set, when suddenly the music stopped and a beatboxer took over. He gave it his all for about five minutes to end with the famous “this is going to make you freak routine…”. Mister Bolland immediately took over again by dropping it and a magical collaboration was born.
And as a little special, here’s a classic:
Last artist I want to talk about is my new hero, DJ Feadz, the reason I went to Laundry Day in the first place. His set was a mix of ravy choppy tunes and supreme mixing brilliance. He managed to keep me interested for the entire two hours he performed by giving the crowd lots of variety, lots of teasing and some catchy tunes everybody likes to hear from time to time. Highlights of the show were him dropping MC Hammer, Mr. Oizo’s Rubber (after teasing it half an hour beforehand, I was afraid you were never going to play it again, you sly devil Feadz…) and Meet Her At The Love Parade by Da Hool.
I’m just to forget the obligatory Uffie you played and keep watching out for your next performance. I will try and get my hands on the set DJ Feadz played and post it when I finally track it down.
All in all Laundry Day was a nice festival (but damn you Netsky playing at the same time as Feadz, I felt bad missing you). Sorry for spamming the blog with posts, but I might be gone for 3 weeks…
So, it looks like we already are in September, that means I have to make my top 5s again, yay !
I've heard a lot of really good songs during August and I'll give you my 5 favorite calm ones today.
Rei Harakami is a Japanese IDM DJ, his work reminds me a lot Wisp's, really peaceful, but with some DnB in the back.
#5
An amazing remix by Port-Royal, one more talented band from Italy, it's hard to define their work, some songs are pure Electronica, some other are way more Ambient and they make some nice Post-Rock too.
#4
OK, you know me, I need to talk about french artists, I can't help it. Pilooski makes some of my favorites edits. So what happens when Pilooski meets Nina Simone ? I'll let you decide.
#3
Squarepusher's new project on Ed Banger Records : Shobaleader One. What can I say ? This is pure genius, I love Squarepusher and he didn't disappointed me with this little gem. Get ready for an epic Mr Oizo remix in my top 5 Bangers.
And of course, the best comes at last. Cassius's new song, from their soon to be released on ED Banger EP : "The Rawkers". I've listened to it for about 2 hours, and I can't get enough of it.
