Thursday, May 31, 2007

Rendez Vous?


Read my Resident Advisor review of the new Freak n' Chic compilation here.

Been ill and on my hols. A bit of catching up to do . . .Watch this space. . . .

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Springfield Gorge and Competition Questions



One of the funniest moments from the best tv show ever.

There were two comps in last Saturday's show. One to win two copies of Alexander Robotnick's "My La(te)st Album" and one to win the same amount of "Boogie Bytes Vol. 3" mixed by Modeselektor. Both come highly recommended so here are the questions.





Robotnick: Which Detroit artist released "Problemz" in 2000 as a homage to Robotnick's Italo classic "Problemes d'Amour"?




Modeselektor: Who was behind the first installment of the "Boogie Bytes" series?

Answers and all relevant contact details can be left as a comment. This comp wil be open until the 4/6. Good luck.

There are some other things I've got to plug as well. The Dissonanze Festival in Rome, which is getting b igger every year and is a nice little warm up for Sonar and something going on in London this weekend.



This is a party that cousin Mathieu (Harpo; God knows why he chose the same name as one of the Marx Brothers) is doing with Digs (DIY) and Dan Foat (Phonica). It's a freebie and I'd be there myself if I wasn't in France at his auntie's.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Machines Playlist: 19/5/07 & Chart

Here's the playlist for last night's show. No guests, which was a blessing, as I wasn't feeling myself and after going home and watching the excellent Jimi Hendrix prog on Beeb 2 I went straight to bed. What a lightweight!

Disco d'Oro (DJ Spun mix) – Tussle (Rong)
Lounge Art – Tim Gregor (Fear of Flying)
La Forza del Destino (Radio Slave remix) – Soylent Green (Playhouse)
Beirut Boogie – Sebbo (Liebe Detail)
Troubled Man (Ruede Hagelstein remix) – Tiefschwarz (Souvenir)
No One Left To Follow – Slam (Soma)
Then and Before (Redshape Present mix) – Zander VT (Memo)
Evagelism – Pakt (Clever)
Dies und Das – Solomun (Diynamic)
Joko Tai – Kiki (Bpitch)
Balkan Bridge – DJ300 (Mtech)
Begun the End Has (Matthew Jonson remix) – Joel Mull (Railyard)

Ellen Allien Fabric 34 Radio Mix:

Like A Child (Carl Craig remix) – Junior Boys (White Label)
Falling Up – Theo Parrish (Syncrophone)
Lotus – Future Beat Investigators (Discomedusa) (Sonar Kollektiv)
When It Was Day We Made It Night – Joris Voorn (Green)
Dragon Soup (Lod remix) – Pep Gaya (Klitekture)
Acuphase – Emptyset (Future Days)
Love Can Damage Your Self (Abicah Soul and Dennis Ferrer remix) – Telepopmusic (Objektivity)

I haven't done a chart for ages. Too busy with the here and now I suppose. Anyway, here's a small top ten of stuff I've been getting into recently.

Strangely enough I'm going to start off with mix cds, and a couple of Mixmag freebies.

The Beats of San Fran Disco - Claude Von Stroke
Ibiza '07 - M.A.N.D.Y.

Mixmag is much derided, but when it comes up with freebies of this standard I'm not complaining. Put your prejudices aside and grab 'em. The Vonstroke one is from last month, but a search around your less popular newsagents should turn one up.

Please, Please, Please - Tobias Thomas (Kompakt): Tobias Thomas' third mix on Kompakt. It's a slow burning mood setter, (as opposed to that famous Korean dish, the slow burning red setter). Not one to provide instant gratification and all the better for it.

Le Bal Masque EP - Handycraft (Kick Boxer) : Not exactly new, but worth a mention nonetheless. Fresh tecchie rave sounds for the spring and summer. This one will stick around for a few months yet.

Plastik - Simon Baker (Infant): Again, been around for ages, but not on general release for that long. Mr Baker rolls out an accomplished piece of electro funk that has been picked up by Playhouse for their latest "Famous When Dead" comp.
"Bustin'."

Oscuro Claro (Tensnake remix) - Paulo Olarte (Fresh Fish): Lovely tropical lush stuff.

Feuervogel (Guido Schneider mix) - Solomun and Stimming (Diynamic): Not feeling the over produced original at all. Guido does what he does best and keeps things groovy and deep. Didn't like "Steppenwolf" by Hosh on the same label either. Sorry John.

Apnea - Marco Carola (Plus 8): Minimal tribal is all the rage, don't you know. Mr Carola rocks the communal living space with electronic wood blocks knocked together in an ethnic, but not at all PC, way.


Begun The End Has (Matthew Jonson remix) - Joel Mull (Railyard): As featured on last night's show. I played this before Ellen Allien's mix, and meant to cut it short, and even though there's not an incredible amount of variety here, MJ manages to sustain the interest level admirably. Typical Matthew Jonson epic.

Miss Gigler (Darko Esser remix) - David Squillace (Luxa Flex): Nice work from the rising star of the Italian underground. This is coupled with Trickes (Boris Ross Freak n' Cut remix) - Adam Craft. A good double header from the land of tulips, clogs and industrial strength weed.

Do It Again (Audion's House Arrest mix) - The Chemical Brothers (Virgin): Not to be released, but seek and ye shall find. Matthew Dear rules the roost at the moment. Arguably the best all-rounder since Beefy serves up a sumptous smorgesboard of trademark screwed-up headfuck house. Makes The Chems palatable anyway.

God, two more to go. Now I remember why I can't be arsed with charts . . . .

U Askin' - Mr G (Rekids): In these turbulent times, it's good to know there's somethings that never change. Was it F. Scott Fitzgerald who said that everyone had one good book in them, and that if an author wrote more than one they were simply variations on a constant theme? I'm dusting off my entire collection of Phoenix G singles (laid end to end they encircle the Earth thrice!) and I'd like to know when "If It Ain't Broke . . ." is coming out.

What Makes You Go For It - Prosumer/Murat Tepeli (Ostgut Ton): Good package on the trailblazing Berghain label, although it's difficult tp put feelings of pretentiousness out of your head when listening to the lyrics.

Bugger the hyperlinks. I'm off to bed.

The Scorpion Of Allah



This has to be seen. Ever wondered why series' two and three (from which this was taken) never made it onto DVD in this post 7/7 world? The words "close" and "bone" spring to mind.

More of this to come.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Machines Schedule: 19/5/07

No guests on this weeks show (at least not at the moment, but things may change). So, to guild your respective lilies, there'll be new music from the Luxaflex, Clever and Fear of Flying labels, as well as Dennis Ferrer/Locodice, Soylent Green/Radioslave, Solomun and Stimming, Sebbo the Ellen Allien promo mix for her Feabric cd (which is better than the full-length version) and loads of other stuff. Oh, and two competitions you really shouldn't miss. One to win two copies of Alexander Robotnick's new album "My La (te)st Album" and the same quantity of Modeselektor's excellent mix "Boogie Bytes 3." Keep it locked.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Hey Nonny, Nonny My Buttocks


Click here for my Resident Advisor review of D'Julz's "Runny." Lovely hair D'Julz btw.

Also, here again are the competition questions from my last show.

To win one of three copies of Aardvarck's "Cult Copy"

What constitutes the ardvarck's staple diet?

To win one of three copies of Comtron's "Follow The Money"

Which city is home to Rush Hour Recordings?

Leave your answer, and full contact details in the comments.

Good luck

Saturday, May 12, 2007

A Few More Reviews


It's about that time again to say a few words on some of the stuff I've been listening to lately, and there's been a lot to take in, so here we go.

Es Kubells
The Rejekts
Rejekt Music

"Es Kubells" is an unremarkable track that in it's original version relies on a few wonky sounds to underpin a monotonous, plodding beat. Sounds like I'm being unkind, but this works particularly well in the mix, I've just bended it with Mathias Tanzmann's "Procon" (Moon Harbour), and it sounded great. It just doesn't do much on it's own. I prefer "Rejektion" and the Argy remix of the title track. BTW am I alone in thinking that the Jerome Sydenham remix of "1985" by Argy (Liebe Detail) is overrated?

My Favourite Kind of Irrelevance
Metamatics
Hydrogen Dukebox

Really good stuff provides refuge from the increasing bollocks of everyday life. I can pay this record no higher tribute. I won't waste any words on it. Oh, wait a minute, I will. Abstract ambience from the heart, Lee Anthony Norris, aka Metamatics has produced a lush collection of mature, evocative soundscapes to accompany the whole range of human emotions.

Rush Hour Presents Beat Dimensions Vol
!
Compiled By Cinnamon & Jay Scarlett
Rush Hour Recordings

Not normally what I'd pay on my show but I got sent it, no doubt due to it's Rush Hour credentials. Aardvarck makes an appearance on here but it's certainly not an indication of what to expect. This is an album of drunken funk, the type where the drums clamber over everything in an attempt to disembowel the proceedings as much as possible. There are a fair few bits amongst the twenty four tracks that function as little more than extended breaks due to their brevity, but everything contributes to provide a compelling soundtrack to a parallel dimension.

Faith Is Fear
Various Artists
Dust Science

Faith Is Fear follows up last years Keep The Faith. Both are compilations that aim to showcase the range that techno has to offer. The tracks range from ambient to dance floor friendly and feature a range of artists both old and new. The Black Dog, Anthony Childs (Surgeon), Regis and Fabrice Lig appear, as well as DNCN, Slit and Mat Carter and Lee Graves. The result is a compilation full of character and variety. My favourite track at the moment is Regis and Female's C/Chaos, which is a trancey groover and is amongst the slew of uptempo tracks which close this collection.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Derrick May at The Soul Tree

. . .passed in a blur. It's been a long time since I've had a night like that. The music was great from all concerned and the atmosphere too. There should be more nights like this in Cambridge. Don't expect any detail in this account, 48 hours later and I'm still piecing my fragile mind back together.It was a blur of high powered machine funk, and I got home, crashed out and woke up with the worse hangover I've had for ages about seven hours later. Dave Angel next bank holiday.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Damo's Mix:

For info on Damo, click here

For last night's 209 mix
click HERE

Playlist For Last Night's Show



Derrick May ce soir. Full match report to follow.


Here's a playlist for last night's show, which was a belter. Damo provided a superb electro-tinged mix, and said a few words sporadically throughout the first part of the show. The mix will be available on this blog for download very soon.


Deception de Real (Tony Rohr remix) – Tim Xavier (Clink)Space Disco (Sonja Moonear remix) – TR One (Fine Art)
It's A Carni Life – Alex Smoke (Vakant)
The Riverbed – Baby Ford and Zip (Perlon)
Neoreplicator – Robert Babicz (Systematic)
Aacid Code 8 – Casio Casino & Neville Atree (Gumption)
Falling Up (Chateau Flight remix) – Theo Parrish (Syncrophone)
Perspective – Sleep Archive (Ostgut Ton)

Damo in the mix:

01. lusine - seemingly - [shitkatapult]
02. markus müller - chateaubriand (mariel ito remix) - [connaisseur]
03. lusine - near sight - [ghostly]
04. mariel ito - future 2020 - [Ai]
05. simulant - access future audio - [scopex]
06. mariel ito - spectral romance - [spacebar sentiments]
07. jean-paul bondy - xeno persuasion - [compost]
08. ADJ - bahomet - [touchin' bass]
09. weedjs - breathe - [touchin' bass]
10. litwinenko - the 6 strikes back - [detroit underground]
11. limbertimbre - AABA (justin maxwell rmx) - [pretension]
12. justin maxwell - the tussincussion - [palette]
13. reporter - k for cars - [open mind]
14. midnight star - the midas touch (hell interface remix) - [white

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Technologystolemyvinyle



Well, thanks to the efforts of the Mighty Reds last night, here is, as promised, a link to download Moodymann's latest offering. Here's also a couple of photos of KDJ on a recent trip to Scotland (purloined off the Slam Events forum). He looks wasted doesn't he? God knows who the bloke is next to him doing his best impression of a pig's head on a platter.



TECHNOLOGYSTOLEMYVINYLE


PS: Moodymann, I did pay for this track, it's only one-sided and a limited edition. I doubt you're losing too much money by it being on here, but if you want me to take it down, you only have to get in touch. Respect.