Lea Lisa - Poem For The Lost Souls (Smallville)

 

Title: Poem For The Lost Souls

Artist: Lea Lisa

Label: Smaillville Records

Cat Number: SMALLVILLE63

Genre: Deep House

1: Poem For The Lost Souls (Original Mix)

2: Poem For The Lost Souls (Broken Mix)

3: Poem For The Lost Souls (Kuniyuki Remix)

4: Poem For The Lost Souls (Session Victim Remix)

Although I don’t think that any label can be taken completely for granted, Smallville is one that can generally be relied upon to spew out quality at the drop of a hat. So, with that in mind I guess that the pressure on its latest release is to keep standards high. ‘Poem For The Lost Souls’ comes in four different versions. The original a hypnotic, atmospheric piece of deep house which soars, thanks to some freeform flute noodling and shuffling percussion. The ‘Broken Mix’ slows the original’s tempo down, using break beats to add syncopation and funk with the flute hovering above the battery. The ‘ Kuniyuki Remix’ is a more roomy, less clustered interpretation, prone to echoes and dub inflections; emphasising the keys, a guitar solo, and evolving into a space jazz flight of fancy. After all that, were left with the ‘ Session Victim Remix’; a blissfully sunny realisation which is probably the closest to the original but with added heft. The various components have all been cleverly amplified so that everything comes into sharper relief as a consequence. Every version on this versatile release oozes class and is a great debut on the label for Swiss DJ Lea Lisa.

Track Of The Day: Havantepe - Calcite (Original Mix) (Berg Audio)

It’s mostly the case that the stuff I post here is quite old so, here’s something which isn’t. Havantepe, who has been featured before on this blog a number of times, is a Turkish producer whose ancient Egyptian-sounding name, and low profile, merely adds to his mystique. Specialising in the type of dub techno that you can dance to, his productions are dynamic enough to stretch the form to its limits, were it threatens to be deep house overshadowed by textural gradients. And if you think that this type of nerdy over-categorisation is sad, then imagine what it must be like to be lost in similar thought while standing in front of a freezer in the local supermarket having forgotten the very ingredients you came for. This track comes from a release which features a Cristi Cons remix of 'Calcite', and a collaboration with Christopher Ledger. Which makes for an all-round boss release.

UMI w/ Among Trees @ Kiosk Radio 25.05.2024

Track Of The Day: Chez Damier - Can You Feel It (MK New York Dub) (KMS)

Has so much ever been conveyed by so little? Of course it has, but the way in which it is said can vary greatly. And this piece of minimalist house perfection manages to cram so much in that you’d be forgiven not to have noticed. The vocal, the kick, the skippy hi hats, the Detroit strings. They’re all there. One of those tracks that can equally aid and abet mayhem, layered in the mix, or cause it on its own. A soulful piece of dubbed out house in which the vocal flickers and burns, becoming another instrument, at one with the frequency. And read the comments. They’re amazing.

John Barera - Forever Anyway The Remixes (Planet 9)

 

Title: Forever Anyway The Remixes

Artist: John Barera 

Label: Planet 9

Cat Number: P9005

Genre: Beat Smorgasbord

1: SF Is Underwater (Panooc Overflow Mix)

2: Forever Anyway (True Yorker Remix)

3: You Are Here (Black Cadmium Citric Acid Mix)

4: Keep Ya Head Up (Love Letters Remix)

5: Time’s Mirror (Chris Patrick Remix)

Five tracks and five different remixers so the hope is always that there will be variety and, just as important, utility. Is there a point to art for art’s sake? Surely these different compositions should have some use? And that’s not to put them in the category of purely functional. Thankfully they do, the remix gods having strayed clear of self-indulgence to deliver five pieces of dance floor gold. ‘ Forever Anyway (True Yorker Remix)’ is a break beat laden monster, energetic and sudden. The breaks cross over into electro on ‘Time’s Mirror (Chris Patrick Remix)’, which plays with similar elements to ‘ Forever Anyway’, but is more minimalist and funkier. ‘You Are Here (Black Cadmium Citric Acid Mix)’, is a piece of unapologetic, linear techno, enhanced by synth swirls which are similar to those used in the previous tracks described, but they soar more dramatically. ‘SF Is Underwater (Panooc Overflow Mix)’ has a concave sonic underlay which combines with a solid kick and a pulsing, emotive melody to recreate something which is a Detroit/early UK techno hybrid. And ‘Keep Ya Head Up (Love Letters Remix)’, is the most abstract composition here, draping a fuggy ambience over beats which feel smeared and slightly fuzzy as a consequence. All in all, a great package which isn’t afraid to go out on a limb.

Track Of The Day: The Spy - The Doors (Elektra)

After having listened to ‘Special Agent Man’, and hearing a reference to this song within the lyrics, I thought I’d strike while the iron is hot. I thin ‘Morrison Hotel’ was the first Doors album I bought and this is one of the stand out tunes on it. Plenty of Doors revisionism around, but they were an essential part of my musical education. Something happened around ten years after they broke up and all of a sudden I discovered them, along with the Velvets. Two diametrically different groups who have continued to have an unerring influence on much of what has followed. The Doors were probably the most unorthodox “pop group” ever; one which had the power to project its respective soloists like no other. And another who, as this song shows, loved the blues.

Track Of The Day: Gaznevada - Special Agent Man (Italian Records)

A piece of low slung Italo chug for your bank holiday. Gaznevada’s ‘Special agent Man’ has it all. Pounding synthetic percussion, razor sharp synth lines, breathy backing vocals, main vocals that come from the school of occasional over emphasis and arpeggiated breaks. Lovely. I’ve just come back from a 10km run with no music, but if I’d had this in my ears, I’D HAVE BEEN FASTER.

Coyote Live - Bodega 24th May

isitbalearic..? · Coyote Live - Bodega 24th May

214 Wave.Transmit.Decay #1

 

Censor · 214 Wave.Transmit.Decay #1

Track Of The Day: Armand Van Helden - Flowerz feat. Roland Clark (FFRR FFRR)

One of the great fin de siecle house tracks, and quite overlooked I think, as Armand definitely took the more commercial route at times. However, great music is great music and should be described in the same terms as any other great example of art, no matter what its means of expression. This is a vocal tour de force by Roland Clark, as well as a piece of proper house/disco magic. The bass is a proper wiggly worm and, although there are traces of filter within, that’s all they are, and they remain a tantalising link from the mid nineties to the next century. I remember seeing Armand just after his ‘Witch Doctor’ EP on Strictly Rhythm blew up, along with Roger Sanchez, George Morel and a surprise pa from Imagination at The Queen in Paris. Free tickets and free bar. Very expensive drinks littering the tables. Leee John giving it loads, much to the enjoyment of my Mrs. Great days.

XDB - Live from Dimensions 23'

Dimensions Festival · XDB - Live from Dimensions 23'

DIM305 - Mariiin

Dimensions Festival · DIM305 - Mariiin

CCL b2b DJ Voices - Live from Dimensions 23' (MARICAS Takeover)

 

Dimensions Festival · CCL b2b DJ Voices - Live from Dimensions 23' (MARICAS Takeover)

Track Of The Day: Jam & Spoon - Stella (R & S)

A simple enough idea, which isn’t a surprise as they are the ones that endure. Percussion surprisingly prominent, but it’s the immortal synth work that drives this track to infinity and beyond. And then you’ve got the flourishes: sonar bleeps, flamenco guitar, “Hold me, love me”, and so on. The definitive piece of trance some say. Certainly one that crossed over into so many different sets that it transcended whatever box it had been put in. And just read the comments below the video. All very positive, touching and nostalgic, pining for a world that still exists in the subconscious. I remember hearing Tony Humphries play this in Brighton many moons ago. One of those rare tunes that stops you in your tracks and creates ripples still being felt years later.

Dietroiter Electro Mix DR220524

 

DIETROITER · Electro Mix DR220524

Track of The Day: Amplified People - Canon Jack (Arpanet)

Plucked from the second release on Arpanet, a French label thast has nowt whatsoever to do with ‘Arpanet’. ‘Canon Jack’ has a ring to it, in that it immediately makes me recall Canon Higgins, the impossibly tall, thin, old and frail head of operations at my parish church when I was a nipper. Apart from this ephemera though, this is an atmospheric stomper with depth, the foundation of which reminds me a little of Daft Punk’s ‘Alive’. This is one of six tracks from the ‘Screen Memory EP’, apparently a relrelease of a shadowy French producer’s product, the original having come out on 2008 and with an extra ‘n’ in the title. ‘Canon’ definitely more evocative for me though.

Robin Ordell | HÖR - May 15 / 2024

EPISODES with Ike Release @TheLotRadio 05-16-2024

Dawn Razor & ArcheTech - Half Life (Homage Records)

 

Title: Half Life

Artist: Dawn Razor & ArcheTech

Label: Homage Records

Cat Number: HOMAGE029

Genre: The Breaks Spectrum

1: Food Farm

2: Wonder Land

3: Lap Top

4: Radar

5: Elect Row

6: Anna Logia

7: Glides

8: From The Cradle To The Hood

9: Hg Yui

10: One

‘Half Life’ is a collection of retrospectively released tracks, originally released on NARA Records, but since lost to the world after the demise of Lobster Theremin. And to label it as “break beats”,as I have, is a little simplistic. However, there’s a time and a place for over-analysis so, while I certainly don’t want to dumb things down, here we go. All of the tunes present here clock in at over 5 minutes, a small detail maybe, but one that tells me that these bits are made for mixing. There’s also plenty of space within the beats and the underlying feel is one of a hybrid approach, enhanced by bass, ‘Elect Row’ being a particularly good example of this, and  crossing over into electro, which is particularly noticeable on the tunes that occupy the second half: ‘Anna Logia’, ‘Glides’, ‘From The cradle To The Hood’, and ‘Hg Yui’. The final track, ‘One’, being something altogether more fragile and lighter, and similar to a lot of more whimsical stuff I’ve noticed over the last couple of years. Back to front, as this write up is, we come to the first four tracks which set the tone with an analogous battery of various shapes and sizes, all of which, in my considered opinion are breaks orientated more than anything else. It’s all academic though, as this excellent analogous collection defies straightforward categorisation being the proverbial six of one and half a dozen of the other.

Barac @ Them, Bucharest 18.05.2024

 

Barac · Barac @ Them, Bucharest 18.05.2024

Track Of The Day: Amadou & Mariam (feat. Manu Chao) - Sénégal Fast Food (Radio Bemba)

I saw Amadou and Maryam with Vinny at The Liverpool Philharmonic in 2016 (I think). I’d never heard them before, the only knowledge I’d gleaned being that they both come from Mali and they are both blind. To say that I was blown away is an understatement. The level of musical virtuosity and sheer stage mastery was quite unparalleled. Simply one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to. And it all seemed so natural to them. This track, a collaboration with Manu Chao, just chugs along under its own sonic breeze and feels particularly appropriate now that the weather is at last changing for the better. 

Coyote Mix May '24

isitbalearic..? · Coyote Mix May '24

Recorded at Houghton - Raresh (2023)

 

Houghton Festival · Recorded at Houghton - Raresh (2023)

Ian Pooley | The MUDD Show

Track Of The Day: Fela Kuti - Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense (Live at Glastonbury, 1984)

This track and, specifically, this particular version, resonates deeply for me. I watched it with a good friend before taking the night train down to London, then onto Harwich, Amsterdam and Berlin, where I cut free. I’ll always remember building up to catching the last tunnel bus late on Friday watching this on BBC 2 and being enthralled. It’s quite chaotic but, like someone said to me later on, “It sounds like the end of the world”. A pretty apt description. I didn’t see Fela Kuti live until 1989 I think, at The Brixton Academy, where I was surrounded by loads of drunk Nigerians having a great time. It’s not really party music, but I get it.

Séarlait | The MUDD Show x Waves

DJ Koolt | The MUDD Show x Sublime x Vaam Agency

Festival Le Bon Air - Helena Hauff - 13 May 2024

 

Refuge Worldwide · Festival Le Bon Air - Helena Hauff - 13 May 2024

Track Of The Day: Lighthouse Family - Raincloud (Mark!'s Tribal Madness Dub) (Polydor)

i

So you like it deep, tribal, elemental, visceral? I could go on (another Samuel Beckett reference, although this one a little more tentative). This track first properly came to light when featured in Terry Francis’ immortal Essential Mix from 1998 and is a perfect example of one extreme of the range of stuff he and the rest of the Wiggle crew were playing. Like a lost Tenaglia edit, this is something that could have come out on Tribal or Twisted, joining the dots between ‘Bottom Heavy’ and ‘Cassa De X’, but having more in common with the former. A percussive heavy monster that has no doubt provided a reinforced backbone for a lot of the output coming from Croydon which is still venerated by many of the so called diggers. And it’s only a few bob on Discogs.  Crazy! Mark! is Mark Picchiotti from Chicago and this is his magnum opus for sure. 

Spacelab Episode 4 with David Noller of Dynamix II

 

Bass Agenda · Spacelab Episode 4 with David Noller of Dynamix II

Metal - Point Vacancies (Remixed) (ESP Institute)

 

Title: Point Vacancies (Remixed)

Artist: Metal

Label: ESP Institute

Cat Number: ESP088B

Genre: Break Beats/Dub/Disco’s Underbelly

A1: Point Vacancies (Hodge Remix)

A2: Dislocation Climb (Jamie Paton Remix)

B1: Dislocation Climb (Jamie Paton Dubwise)

B2: Dislocation Climb (Jamie Paton Dubwise ll)

Originally released back in the salad days of 2020, ‘Point Vacancies’ finally sees a set of remixes. Has it been worth the wait? Well, going by the all-encompassing grandeur of hodge’s break beat monster, absolutely. It’s a symphonictastic, dark moon rising piece of uber controlled tribal rage. Every home should have one, but probably doesn’t. Jamie Paton, one half of Metal with Mike Bourne, then steps in and syncopates the hell out of it with a piston – powered, chugtastic piece of work, the tireless momentum of which exists on the sharp edges of dub. Something that is descended into in the next two instalments. The ’Dubwise’ mix doesn’t depart too much from the remix. More transparent than translucent. The sharpness remains but then the descent into corrosion begins with ‘Dubwise ll’, which is the imagined soundtrack to a lost Samuel Beckett play in which respiratory functions slowly die out. Hodge’s remix will probably get the most play, but everything here is superb, evocative and imaginative.I just love writing about stuff like this.

Kasper Marott [007]

Hypersoft · Kasper Marott [007]

Voyage de Lux w/ Alex Downey 24.04.24

 

1BTN · Voyage de Lux w/ Alex Downey 24.04.24

Track Of The Day: Hello - Homer Hossa (Remastered 2005) (Ralph Records)

After having linked The Residents to Yello in this post, through both sound and label, I was drawn to this early piece of beat ambience. I first came across ‘Homer Hossa’ on one of those NME cassettes that you had to send off for in the early eighties, so it was probably the first Yello track I heard. The cover art of ‘Claro Que Si’ is interesting as well. I know nothing about the artist, Jim Cherry, except that I’m sure he was part of a ‘Face’ feature on comic art/graphic design, around the time this was released. The track itself has always had a Werner Herzog on acid vibe for me. So, not bad at all then.

Track Of The Day: Manu Dibango ‎- Electric Africa (Celluloid)

Fusing aspects of traditional African music with jazz and what feels like an organic approach to electro, Manu Dibango’ s ‘Electric Africa’ has some similarities to his most famous track, ‘Soul Makossa’. The saxophone breaks, the vocals, the languid progression. It’s a little bit more polished though, and spontaneous enough to not feel contrived when the keys break loose just past the halfway mark, (Herbie Hancock, no less). Produced by Bill Laswell and issued on his Celluloid label, this track dominates an album which, at the time, was seen as quite cutting edge in the way it blends those genres already mentioned. Also quite prescient for its time, coming a year before Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’, which was unavoidable for large stretches of the eighties.

The Shizzle : 1 May 2024

 

The Shizzle · The Shizzle : 1 May 2024

ALFOS EBS47 - Sean Johnston (10-05-2024)

 

EBS Clip 
Una Nuova Era Rodion & Mammarella
Scram City (Brendon Moeller Reshape) Lost Souls Of Saturn
Dog Eat Dog (dj_balanov Remix) Anderdog 
Work Over Dharma 
Leisure Dub Ft. Armanious - Body Talk (System Mix) 
When The Game Is Played On You Lady Blackbird 
Drunk (Alterleo Hangover Remix) Anderdog 
Love (Roman Flügel Remix) Das SPEZIAL 
Dirty Secrets Das SPEZIAL 97.00
Falun Gong Dancer (Dub) with Jah Wobble Telefís 
ON ISLANDS BIRDS OF PANDAEMONIUM 
Psychederek - Pacific State 
Fluke - Insanely Beautiful - HBMMU dub
Meat Katie- Whoosh 
Picotropico_-_Strangers_(Pico_is_Not_a_Stranger_Anymore_Remix) 
Rising Sun Romare
YBU - Keep It Up (Instru-mental) 
Midnight Express KlangKollektor 
Peaceful Unreality (Original Mix) Dad Of The Year
PBR Streetgang (Massey Remix) 
Slow Burn (Deep In The Cosmic Hole Dub) Hardway Bros 
Love Games Rheinzand 
There Are No Streets (Disco Demolition Knight Remix) Anderdog 
Emperor Machine Hardway Bros Dub 
AD Habibi Mother Africa (Earth Dub) 
Ralph & Kathy (Original Mix) Alex Gopher
Alex Kassian - E2–E4 (Mad Professor's Qantas Crazy Remix 2) 
Rule Six (Meat Katie RMX) 
Peak-High-Dance-Hall-Days
Cantonese Bolis Pupul 
Trance Stance (Time Machine Dropouts Mix) 
Broken Mothers Dario Dea
Hardway Bros ft Beth Cassidy - Murky (Beyond The Wizards Sleeve Re-Animation) 
Walk! Walk! Walk! Umbra 
Echo Ritual REES 
Let It All Go (feat. Dan Diamond) Roland Leesker 
Len - Steal My Sunshine (Version Idjut) 
Killer (William Orbit dub mix - 2022 remaster) Seal 
Amnesia (Lindstrom Vocal Mix) Radio Slave Ft. Cagedbaby 
Salsa House (Room 17 Pikes Extended Remix)DJ Fen x Cash Only 
Hardway Bros Murky Coral Way Dub Mix 
Session Victim - Screen Off /w Ras Stimulant [m] Session Victim 
ASHRR_ Different Kind Of Life (Massimiliano Pagliara Dub) 
Over And Over HOT CHIP 
Crooked Man YOWYOW 
Never Turn Back - Jaegerossa Remix Divine Who 
Phil Kieran ALL GONNA HURT Extended version
Weatherall's Last Stand Richard Norris 
Dummy Umbra 
Special Places (Damon Jee Remix) Slove feat. David Shaw and The Beat 
The Rave is Calling You Dario Dea 
Late Night Fairytales Umbra 
Cope (François K Remix) Dombrance 
Jaws Radio Slave 
Hotel Karthago Roman Flügel 
Rafiki - Lofi Dreams 
The Quantum Fix part 2 Knut Sævik 
CHILD NOT JESUS (AMOR FATI EDIT

Track Of The Day: The Residents - Kaw-Liga (Prairie Mix) (Torso)

The Residents first came into my orbit in the late seventies with their version of ‘Satisfaction’. A yellow vinyl 7” which, at the time, was as punk as a lot of what I was listening to. Very much out on a limb, arty American stuff that I filed next to the likes of Pere Ubu and Devo. ‘Kaw-Liga (Prairie Mix)’ is significant because it made an appearance on ‘Balearic Beats’ and it still has great chug propulsion. A dark disco secret weapon that still turns heads and sounds strangely like Yello, who recorded for The Residents’ label, Ralph Records, back in their youth. I was lucky enough to catch the Residents at Sadlers Wells in 1989 for their ‘Cube E Show’. A multi-scened piece of musical theatre with the most elaborate costumes I’ve ever seen on a stage. Memories are very hazy, but fragments remain.

Objekt @TheLotRadio 04-09-2024

Vladimir Ivkovic (Offen Music) @TheLotRadio 04-29-2024

Various - 030313 (Tresor)

 

Title: 030313

Artist: Various

Label: Tresor 

Cat Number: TRESOR360

Genre: Techno/Electro

1: Model 500 – I.D.L.E.

2: Ectomorph – Searching (Live At Globus)

3: AMX – Your Body

4: DJ Stingray 313 – Dynamic Instability

5: JakoJako – Metal Goat

6: Erik Jabari – Screamore

This release is a fusion of Berlin and Detroit, brought about by Carhartt & Tresor to highlight the output of their home towns. Opening with a “lost” track from Juan Atkins, ‘I.D.L.E.’ is an agile piece of electro distinguished by its synth swirls and vocals. It’s pretty good. As is ‘Searching (Live At Globus)’ from Ectomorph. Another electro offering but one that seems to be in a state of breakdown and decay compared to its predecessor. ‘Your Body’ by AMX is all angular stabs and flanges pushed along by a deadpan spoken word. ‘Dynamic Instability’ is a track that could only have been made by DJ Stingray. Ratcheting up the bpms but still infectiously funky, his sound is unique but it does sound like it was produced in an abattoir. The artists representing Berlin stay within the techno domain with ‘Metal Goat’ by JakoJako sounding like wind chimes on crack, and Erik Jabari’s ‘Screamore’ a concave undulation of a track that defty rides the machine funk wobbleboard. All in all a really strong release in which all tracks are infinitely useful and, mostly, imaginative and original.

Track Of The Day: Candido - Jingo (Original 12" Mix) (Salsoul)

‘Jingo’ is one of the, if not the, most memorable hook(s) in all of dance music and, as it was released back in the budding stage, it’s a proper testament to longevity and quality. Which isn’t surprising when you consider that Candido was a pioneer of Afro-Cuban jazz and the creator of the multiple percussion set up. ‘Jingo’ is perhaps his best known tune outside of jazz circles and this version highlights his conga playing and is a simultaneously languid and energetic piece of Afro Cuban disco that crosses over effortlessly and is maybe responsible for more bad backs and funny muscle mix ups from superannuated shape throwing than most other tunes.

NI66 | Ole Mic Odd

Neptunian Influence · NI66 | Ole Mic Odd

BSU 070 - Enrica Falqui

 

Butter Side Up · BSU 070 - Enrica Falqui