Music
All This Summer Dancing Meant I Forgot to Tell You About These Albums
Sunday, July 12th, 2009 | Album Review | No Comments
June to July has been a particularly lost couple of months. Mainly due to being found on various dancefloors in the UK and abroad. But as I stumble between the parties with that crazed ‘I Need Crack’ look I have been listening to a few good albums that came my way. The moment may have passed for most, but I’m still going to tell you anyway.
Robert Hood – Minimal Nation
When I said the moment might have passed I wasn’t talking about the one back in 1994 when this seminal classic was released. Instead I’m talking about Robert Hood and Planet M’s decision to re-release Minimal Nation to another generation of techno lovers and re-school the kids on where manipulating a minimal set of elements comes from. › Continue reading
Miss Kittin & The Hacker – Party In My | Single Review
Monday, June 29th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
From the album 1000 Dreams we gave Party In My Head a conservative thumbs up. We thought that Miss Kitten’s vocals had been layered with the Blondie/Moroder style disco synths just right. So its good to see that the Thieves Like Us run with the disco bit and churn out a great strutting piece of NYC disco funk. The vocodered vocals sit with the natural percussion and funk lines. So much so that it far surpasses the original.
Kiko on the other hand is at the other end of the spectrum. He’s gone for a brash whirring remix with rough electronic synths and stern marching beats. It’s noisy and in your face so it’s totally made for the big rooms. That leaves Mr Pauli’s remix. He’s gone with the 80s synth pop influence on the original and taken that to town. Think shoulder pads, Miami Vice and those great 80s electronic tom toms. I was confused at first, but the retroness has its charm.
TRACKLISTING:
A1.Party in my Head (Original)
A2. Party in my Head (Mr Pauli Remix)
Radioslave – 3 Snapshots: Tokyo Free CD | Album Review
Saturday, June 27th, 2009 | Album Review | No Comments
Ever been to Tokyo? Me neither. 3, those mobile phone people, hope to give you the inside scoop on Tokyo and other locations with their 3 Snapshots series. But why are they doing it? Well, it promotes their new INQ1 phone which allows you to hook up to all kinds of new fangled social media things like Facebook, Flickr and Skype. So what’s Radioslave got to do with all of this? I’m not quite sure myself. From what I can gather he likes Tokyo, he says it’s great for shopping and has the “sickest” clubs in the World. Tenuous link to do a mix – yes maybe, but it’s a free CD from Radioslave which come few and far between when you pay for them. So stop your moaning.
It’s been two years since the last mix from Radioslave and it seems as though he has turned another page in terms of style; previous years saw Radioslave put out the darkest, heaviest and most hypnotic records on the market, whilst before that he was making cheeky pop bootlegs with old production partner Serge Santiago. › Continue reading
Geddes & Alex Jones – Tubular | Single Review
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
Geddes and Alex Jones team up on the latest MurMur release for another slice of deep house action. Tubular has some great beats. The only way I can describe them is that they sound like big bubbles that rise up inside a water cooler bottle. Kind of that bassy tubby sound, ya get me? Geddes and Alex Jones then sprinkle a few hi hats and vocal snippets to give you another simple yet hypnotic slice of deep house; however its not Geddes and Alex Jones who are the stars of this show. It’s Lauhaus who turns out a remix which retrofits the hypnotic vocal snippets over a far hookier bassline and shuffling up beat rhythms. I’m pretty sure he’s done something similar on his own productions, but like they say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Tracklist:
1. Tubular
2. Zeiss
3. Tubular (Lauhaus remix)
Monika Kruse – Changes of Perception Remixes Part 2 | Single Review
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 | Single Review | 1 Comment
Bright techno stars Erman Erim and 2000 and One are called up for Monika Kruse’s second batch of remixes from her latest artist album Changes of Perception. New comer Erman Erim was charged with the task of reworking Don’t Come Close. He keeps the eerie darkness of the original but exacerbates the melody with its big plunging keys. The slowly unwinding melody gives the track a great progression in a prog way of yore.
2000 and One head down their tried and tested route of chunky house and make ‘When I Woke Up’ their own. They inject some ballsy beats and a rumbling intermittent bass groan to create a surprisingly slow and smooth house track. It is however a bit thin on the ground with progression but I’m sure the bass groan makes up for it on a large system.
Tracklist:
1. When I Woke Up (2000 And One remix)
2. Don’t Come Close (Erman Erim remix)
Miss dicA – Freak EP | Single Review
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
Miss dicA is Barbara Tampiér, an Austrian producer and DJ who now lives in, you guessed it Berlin. Her Freak Out EP is self described as Electro-Techno-Trash and I can’t say I disagree. Freak Out uses trashy synths over high riding percussion and some farty electro basslines giving you a scatty electro-techno-trash workout. Freak’n Proud pines for a techno sound but keeps it intensely trashy with wave after wave of throbbing acid synths; whilst Freak In restrains itself with spindly electronic keys and whirring acid lines. It’s a good release but I can’t help think it sounds a lot like Miss Kitten and DJ Hell. But that’s no bad thing.
Miss dicA – Freak EP is out now
Tracklisting:
A1 Freak In
A2 Freaky Stars
B1 Freak Out
B2 Freak’n Proud
LTJ Bukem – FabricLive 46
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | Album Review | No Comments
We don’t really cover too much Drum n Bass on here. But that’s not to say we don’t like it. The problem has been, in our own honest opinion, a lack of decent drum n bass. Well probably not lack of, just its been pushed to the side whilst all the kids have been going made for the noisy jump up sound ala Pendulum et al. Which is fair enough. Its noisy, its mental its what kids love. For grumpy folk like us at EarPipe we’re more accustomed to the oozsing liquid sounds of drum n bass. Hence why we’re giving LTJ Bukem’s FabricLive mix the big lighter cru thumbs up.
It’s been a long time coming for LTJ Bukem to do this CD. But by god it was worth it. So what has the godfather of liquid drum n bass dished out on this mix? Basically 70 minutes of smooth luscious grooves and layers over itching, rolling percussion. You’ve got rolling pianos, soaring synths, luscious melodies and my personal favourite, double bass basslines ala Breakbeat Orchestra style. I can’t really give you any details of its credibility in drum n bass terms, but it is definitely the best D&B mix from FabricLive since High Contrast and Marcus Intalex. Nuff said, innit.
Buy LTJ Bukem – FabricLive 43 on CD
Tracklist:
01 Greg Packer – People’s Music
02 Tidal – Impressions
03 Furney – Eerie Indiana
04 Villem – Inflated Tear (Madcap’s Remix)
05 Paul SG Ft Eros – Forever
06 Paul SG Ft Caine – Lay Down
07 Paul SG Ft Andy Sim – Sweet and Fresh
08 Locksmith – 2 Minds
09 Specific – Time
10 Furney – Jambaleno
11 Phatplayaz – Fact Of The Unknown
12 Furney – Rhodeo Drive
13 Eveson – Kodama
14 Furney – Fearz
15 Tayla – Turn it Around
16 Locksmith – I’m Not Where You Are
17 Furney – Rhodes For D
18 Syncopix – So In Need
Shlomi Aber and Kenny Larkin – Sketches | Single Review
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
Sketches the latest release from Shlomi Aber, with a little help from Kenny Larkin, is another corker filled with obvious ideas. The release comes in two flavours. The Shlomi Aber flavour is a funked up jack hammer with a ballsy bassline and toe tapping jazz percussion. It’s a definite corker with the looping techno bassline and scatty percussion. The only problem is that there is a massive influx of this kind of techno. But don’t let that detract from how infectious and fun this track really is.
Kenny Larkin’s flavour spends most of its time leaving you on the edge using a meandering swirl of half drops, swooshy synths and throbbing basslines in a kind of Moodymann Shades of Jae kind of way. It’s a great way to build tension and is probably my favourite of the two.
Tracklist:
A1 Sketches (Shlomi Aber Version) 7:35
B1 Sketches (Kenny Larkin Version) 10:05
Pierce & Jerl – Amourette | Single Review
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
I’ve never heard of Pierce and Jerl until their latest release came across me on GetPhysical’s digital label GetDigital. Their track Amourette is a shuffling funk monster which congas around your head. Latin guitar samples and the pita patter of claves sit perfectly with the smooth rolling bassline urging you to lose yourself in its engulfing sound. M.in chop up the samples and throws them into the mix with a bouncy Chicago backing track. You’ve got pumped up beats, the rolling pianos and warm double bass low end creating that classic Chicago house sound. Both great turnouts.
The second track from Pierce and Jerl is Brazilique. It’s got a pretty standard urging tech-house beat and unsurprisingly a Brazilian vocal sample. But as you get into the track its got this quirky hollow tom tom flutter. Overall it’s probably best to stick with Amourette but Brazilique won’t do any harm.
Tracklist:
1. Amourette (Original Mix)
2. Amourette (M.in Remix)
3. Brazilique (Original Mix)
Buy Pierce & Jerl from GetDigital
Jaxson and David Keno – Tout Le Temps
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
It seems like Jaxson and David Keno have taken a trip to the bongo percussion and old ethnic samples supermarket. Their latest release Tout Le Temps is littered with the stuff. The three out of the four tracks on this release use the current formula of muted drums, bongo percussions and wobbly basslines. Each track’s defining feature depends on which old ethnic sample has been worked in. For title track Tout Le Temps its some old clichéd Latin vocal and guitar flutter; whilst Tarantella goes for Middle Eastern strings and horns. Both have a spring in their step with a solid groove so they won’t do any harm. Karate Kid is similar but uses some piano drones to provide a interesting sinister shade to the track. In hindsight I’m probably too discerning about the samples as they do as they’re supposed to do and that’s give the listener something to identify with. I just wish more people would do that latching element with something original.
Tracklist:
A1. Tout Le Temps
A2. Tarantella
B1. Red Baron
B2. Karate Kid
Hector – Got Fringe | Single Review
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
Hector is kind of living the dream at the moment. Firstly he holds down his day job at Phonica probably the best record shop in the country, second he’s DJing here there and everywhere and finally he’s hanging in the right circles to take over from DJs pining for a black pudding roll at Fabric. Now he might be adding a fourth string to that bow by become a credible producer too.
Got Fringe is his first release for Mobilee. The title track takes on your typical in vogue deep house. Some warm basslines, a shuffling beat with a hint of jazz percussion, some conga lines and a Latin American vocal stab. All pretty standard stuff. The digital only track Canaca is more of the same fashionable deep house stuck in a groove. Its pleasurable but not memorable. However it is the B-Side, Taking Me For A Ride which really strikes a chord. It’s pretty much a massive thud of a kick drum with some crisp 909 cymbals which together rumbles up the rawest of grooves. Add a hypnotic vocal stab and acid tweak and you’ve got yourself this ridiculous old style minimal house track which is so simple yet so affective.
A: Got Fringe?
B: Taking Me For A Ride?
Digital Only Track: Canaca
Exercise One – No News Today | Single Review
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
Exercise One return with this teaser ahead of their album In Cars We Rust. No News Today is definitely putting itself in the epic box. They use down tempo broken beats which back bright and multicoloured tones and layers. The result is a meandering sun kissed synth pop track, soothed by Argenis Brito’s vocals.
Deadbeat throw in their two cents by melding the broken beats with dub sensibilities. The once brightly coloured original is transformed into a dark brooding dub house come dub step track. It’s a strange combination with 4/4 beats offset by dubstep percussion which caused great confusion on when I should nod my head. But it works and provides a friendlier adaptation for the clubs.
Tracklist:
A1. No News Today Feat. Argenis Brito (Deadbeat Roller Dub) (7:00)
A2. No News Today Feat. Argenis Brito (Original) (6:36)
B. It Is Happening Again (7:49)
Bruno Lawton – Shakin’ Down | Single Review
Thursday, May 14th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
Bruno Lawton co founder of Mixtape records launches into a barrage of filter funk techno for his first release on the label. Shakin’ Down struts that classic funky techno feel using filtered guitar stabs and the occasional brass sample. It’s nothing groundbreaking on the techno front but it’s sure to crowds bouncing. The remixes on this release come from Angel Alanis and Gus Brown. Alanis slows the pace down and strips it down to the basics. He jigs the beat keeping it a little off centre and explores the brass sample a bit more. The result is a fun and interesting interpretation. On the flip Gus Brown has torn his balls off and splattered them at the wall. The already pounding beat from the original has been replaced with an even punchier beat and all the loops have been drawn in and made sharper. If its nutty funky techno for the roid rage then you can’t really beat this.
Tracklist:
1. Shakin’ Down (Original Mix)
Elastik Trickery/John Rowe – Rig Ma Roll Ep | Single Review
Thursday, May 14th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
Its precarious times for the folk of Newcastle as they watch Alan Shearer guide the football team over a tight rope of relegation or survival. If the team does get relegated to the Championship at least the lads can go out on the town and listen to some pretty full on techno if this release by Testin Out records is anything to go by.
Testin Out’s fourth release comes from some of Newcastle’s stalwarts Elastik Trickery and John Rowe. Apparently both acts have been bowling about the North East with the techno sound for sometime. Although I’m a bit naive with the Newcastle techno scene, I just thought they drank brown ale and got semi naked at football matches.
That said Elastik Trickery’s O Beberrao De Tanners is far from semi nakedness on the terraces. It is in fact a pumped up funk fuelled monster. The scatty loops and jittery samples over funk ladened techno beats give this track plenty of energy which wouldn’t see it go a miss in sets from Sims right through to Wiggle. The other track from Elastik Trickery called Ego goes down the noisy electro route. Raw synths whip and whoop over pumped up beats. Some may like it, but it was too rough for EarPipe’s delicate ears.
John Rowe however tones things down a bit. Pigdog has an old school prog vibe to its sound. The driving bassline and subtle percussion send me back to a John Digweed moment circa 2002. And that’s no bad thing. However John Rowe could have slipped in a few more noticeable breaks in there. John’s second track Closed however veers from the linear path of Pigdog. Ballsy beats and basslines have a heavy impact which makes the slight breaks in sound ever more prominent. The fans of the heavy Pryda sound would like this.
Tracklist:
1. Elastik Trickery – O Beberrao De Tanners
2. Elastik Trickery – Ego
3. John Rowe – Pigdog
4. John Rowe – Closed
Claude Von Stroke – Fabric 46 | Album Review
Saturday, May 9th, 2009 | Album Review | No Comments
For many Claude Von Stroke divides opinion, there are those that think his wonky sound is the best thing since sliced bread whilst there are those that won’t give him the time of the day due to tracks like Whistler. For me, I sit on the fence like Switzerland. Von Stroke’s music can be a bit dubious at times, but you got to give the man some respect for genre busting sound of Whos Afraid of Detroit. What I do like about Von Stroke though is his whole approach to the scene. It all just seems like a good bit of fun for him which he doesn’t take too seriously at all. And in the process he’s helped create this wonky sound that straddles house and techno, he’s made some fantastic tunes and obviously some which are corny. But in his defence all the corny ones have had their comedic charm. I mean who in their right mind makes a breakbeat remix of Peanut Butter Jelly Time if they’re not dicking around, even his Fabric CD starts with him and his mates just laughing for no real reason.
Thankfully however Von Stroke doesn’t go absurd on the comic front for Fabric 46. Instead it locks into a wonky groove travelling through all sorts of styles with just the right sheen of Von Stroke humour and quirkiness. He gently › Continue reading
Louderbach – Autumn | Album Review
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 | Album Review | 1 Comment
Troy Pierce’s alter ego Louderbach drops his second album with a little vocal help from post-punk singer Gibby Miller. The duo have been recording tracks together on and off for the last few years ever since their first meeting in New York during 2001.
Their latest offering, Autumn alludes to Troy Pierce’s dark more minimal side. The tracks are deep, abstract and have an off colour feel. Strange and eerie dominates the album which is coupled by Miller’s often chilling vocal inserts. On Seems Like Static Miller’s calm vocals provide a sinister vibe over Troy’s mechanised beats. And on So This Is Control, Miller’s vocals again provide an unnerving eeriness to the track, perfect for those haunting synths.
For the tracks where Miller’s vocals › Continue reading
DJ Hell – Teufelswerk | Album Review
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 | Album Review | No Comments
DJ Hell needs no introduction but if you must know the man pioneered the electroclash sound which came out of Berlin during the mid nineties. He runs the infamous DJ Gigolos record label and is a general all round German oddball.
Personally I’ve never been that into DJ Hell’s sound. It was often too industrial and raw. However his latest album Teufelswerk has managed turn my opinion. Teufelswerk in German means “devil’s work” and there is definitely some sinister evil sounds. The album is sixteen tracks split across two CDs. The first CD clearly labelled Night for Hell’s nocturnal stylings is eight tracks of raw, industrial techno beats crossbred with crunchy acid laden synth lines. Electronic Germany has a certain Kraftwerk feel to it with the low bit electronic synth lines and robot vocals. Whilst The Disaster uses an array of slowly unwinding synth layers to produce a purely sinister sound. Friday, Saturday, Sunday closes the CD with a complete mind fuck track with whirring sirens, off beat keys and a punchy rhythm. It sounds mental, but it’s actually restrained with a great flow and is probably the best track on the Night CD. There is also a celebrity cameo from P Diddy who spits his opinion in your face over classic 909 beats and eerie melodies.
Miss Kitten & The Hacker – Two | Album Review
Friday, May 1st, 2009 | Album Review | No Comments
Miss Kitten is another artist who I find chalk and cheese. On one hand she’s come out with some great electronic tracks yet on the other she’s come out with some cheese melody laden tracks where she insists she must sing over. Her latest offering with The Hacker is no different.
On this album the duo aim for a futuristic space aged sound dipping into the cyber-pop and techno territories. Ironically the sounds they use have an old school feel to them with Moroder synths, 80s synth pop melodies and electrobreak beats. Headline track 1000 Dreams has a great synth pop hook to it and Miss Kittens vocals balance the track out with the soaring futuristic strings. It’s slightly corny, but it’s catchy so I’ll give her that.
Then you have Pppo, a mechanical chugging electroclash track. It has some great muted beats with spacey sonar bleeps and mechanical valve noises. Add to that some nicely placed vocals from Miss Kitten and you’ve got yourself a good stripped back bleepy number.
Butane – Mutation | Single Review
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 | Single Review | 1 Comment
It’s good to hear Butane return to our speakers with this single from his forthcoming album on Crosstown Rebels. Its been a good year or so since his last release, but the wait was worth it. New track Mutation is a fantastic slice of glitchy hypnotic minimal techno. It begins with a murky hypnotic bassline and a spattering of electronic twitches. Every so often the murky bassline would raise its head above the water line as it filters out into a clean synth trickle before quickly diving back below into the murky bassy depths. It’s interesting how Butane uses the bassline as the melody for the breakdown. Its pretty one dimensional in its execution, but the shear depth of sound gives it all the kick it needs.
On the same release is two remixes from some heavyweight up and coming producers. Sety of Circus Company fame reworks the dark original into a more bouncy shuffling number. Sety fills in the minimal gaps with quite an infectious horn hook which sounds like something out of the King and I. Musical prejudice aside it seems to work, giving it a catchy and infectious edge the original didn’t have.
The other heavy weight remixer is man of the moment SiS. He also uses the original’s bassline but pads out the space with a clichéd minimal tap drip and samples of an Indian sitar. Add the skipping beats that SiS is so good at and the result is another infectious shuffling remix of the original. Another great release from the Crosstown stable.
Tracklist (Click for Mp3):
1. Mutation (Original Mix)
2. Mutation (Sety Mix)
3. Mutation (SiS Mix)
Burnski – Draw Your Own Sword EP | Single Review
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments
Burnski is a young whipper snapper from Leeds. Aged 23 and he’s already seen a variety of his tracks released on labels such as Dessous, Morris Audio, Trapez and home label 20:20 Vision. He’s also resident at one of the country’s longest running club nights Back to Basics. A few strings to his bow I think you’ll find.
For his release on Pokerflat, Burnski has combined the deepness of Chicago house with an electronic and spacey palette to create this three track EP. Title track Draw Your Own Sword takes a Chicago style skipping beat with bellowing sub bass and gives it a slight twist with the massive plunging piano keys and trickling synths. A similar style is used on Sleep. The beats are slightly chunkier but the same ethos is there. The rest of the track is made up of washy pads and hollow keys to give it that classic twilight deep house vibe. Finally Mud and Mouse has a more upbeat approach using a rounder more prominent bassline which is accompanied by more skipping beats and a distinct see-saw accordion melody.
The result is unfortunately a mediocre package. All three tracks are middle of the road house with little to get excited about. It’s well produced with some interesting sounds, but lacks a spark to get you really involved.
Tracklisting:
1. Draw Your Sword (6:25)
2. Sleep (7:44)
3. Mud And Mouse (6:53)
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