Friday 29 August 2008

Fine Cut Bodies - the legend, the mix ....



Kevin (Fine Cut Bodies) out of Budapest is a massively underrated talent on the world stage, so we thought it was time for a bit of k-love here on the TFM as we showcase one of his legendary Radio Tilos broadcasts from back on 06 August.

>> Title: Ablak-A-Dubra RadioShow
>> By: Fine Cut Bodies
>> Date: 06/08/2008 , 20.00-22.00 (CET)
>> Radio: Radio Tilos >> http://www.tilos.hu
>> Region: Internet + Hungary (air - FM90,3)
>> Genre: MiniTrashHouse
>> Contact: http://www.chi-recordings.com

Ablak-A-Dubra is FineCutBodies' fortnightly show on wednesdays 20-22pm (CET). You can tune in live at http://www.tilos.hu or listen to the archives below...

Subscribe to the Podcast

Actual show direct links:
http://www.chi-recordings.com/zenek/mixek/radio/AAD/AAD_20080806.mp3
http://www.chi-recordings.com/zenek/mixek/radio/AAD/AAD_20080806.txt

All archived shows from the beginning:
http://www.chi-recordings.com/angol/audio_radio_aad.htm

..> Fine Cut Bodies at the decks

01> Dave_Aju_+_The_Invisible_Art_Trio_-_Timing_Is_Everything_-_Circus_Company-CCS021
02> Chris_Fortier_-_Belt_Seat_Fasten_(Komposit_remix)_-_EQ_Grey-
03> Marbert_Rocel_-_Beats_Like_Birds_(Wassermalfarben_remix)_-_Compost-CPT2711
04> Octogen_-_The_Emperor's_Apprentice_(part_1)_-_Soma-244
05> Luke_Solomon_-_Robots_-_Rekids-025DB
06> Layo_+_Bushwacka_-_The_Time_Was_Then_-_Olmeto-OLM018
07> Anthony_Collins_-_Da_A_Tricoter_-_Cecille-CEC005
08> Wasted_Chicago_Youth_-_Magic_Noise_Goblins_-_DotBleep-
09> Sian_-_Wear_Your_Scars_Like_Medals_(Roland_Appel_remix)_-_Aus-0810
10> Mike_Monday_-_I_Am_Plankton_(glug_glug_club_dub)_-_OM-322
11> Thomas_Schumacher_-_Pink_Boots_(Stephen_Beaupre_remix)_-_Spiel_Zeug_Schallplatten-SPIEL416
12> Zoo_Brazil_-_My_Fire_-_Gung_Ho!-GENGHISCD004
13> Lil_Tony_-_Cosmic_Afro_Pan_-_Versatile-VER059
14> Jonathan_Landossa_-_Hard_Trip_(Zodiac_Cartel_mix)_-_CDR
15> Vlad_Sokolov_-_Acid_For_Drains_(The_Bulgarian_remix)_-_Sokolov_Sounds-
16> Alex_Capelli_-_Bloody_Notes_-_Great_Stuff-GSR063
17> BSOD_-_Choplifted_-_Xfer-004
18> Cagedbaby_-_Excuse_Me_(forced_night_version)_-_CDR
19> ZZT_-_Lower_State_Of_Consciousness_(Justice_remix)_-_Turbo-043

Wednesday 27 August 2008

Old Skool is MY Skool


For those of you on the hunt for some proper cut'n'paste old skool bizniz, look no further than this new missive from Rotterdam nutjob Jaimie Fanatic who's unleased a mentasmic slab of stupidity on our asses once again.

Grab a slice of the pie here (320):

Jaimie Fanatic - Old Skool is my Skool

Tuesday 26 August 2008

Meat Katie - Australian Tour Blog pt.2



Well my stay in Sydney all week was pretty uneventful. I met up with Jono Fernandez (an occasional LOT49 recording artist) a couple of times to swap some tracks; had dinner with Dopamine and friends, but nothing as rock and roll as the weekend’s shenanigans.

One thing I did while I was in town was go to the ITM top 50 with my Ozzy agent Sam on Wednesday, which is a bit like the DJmag top 100, but tighter jeans, leg warmers, scarves, and ‘FREE’ drink, so actually … No….. now I think of it, it’s nothing like djmag Top100! It was worth going though, as a good friend of mine, Micah, won best DJ for Western Australia (he also played Ambar the Friday just gone). He’s a great DJ, decent guy and well deserved in my humble opinion - no one else who plays remotely genre-defying sets got a look in which was a shame. It seems this poll is very fashion lead when it comes to domestic DJ’s, and the international section was won by Tiesto (so well done him … ).

Anyhow Melbourne …………

Right, what I’m about to tell you, even by my own useless standards is shocking. I’ve been having lots of sleeping problems so I thought it best I set my alarm clock in my hotel room, and my phone, and I also requested a wake up call to make sure I got up at 6am for my early morning flight. Well I couldn’t sleep as per normal, tossing and turning. I rolled over and noticed it was 5.15am so I decided to get up have a shower, get my shit together, checked out, grabbed a cab and off to the airport. On arrival, and to my absolute horror, i looked at the board in the airport to see 4.28AM. I have no idea how I did not notice the time on my mobile phone, but I managed to get to the airport 4hrs early for a domestic flight, I must have changed the clock in my room by mistake and forwarded it by two hours. The word ‘plank’ sprang to mind!


Anyhow back to Melbourne. The last few years I’ve played Brown Alley in Melbourne with the Darkbeat crew, so this year we decided to do a new place called Miss Libertine. It’s a great space - an old converted Victorian house – and I popped in there in the afternoon for lunch to check it out, then on to Kiss FM for a little mix and a chat, then off to bed & I pretty much slept till I had to play.

When I arrived at the the club Dopamine was playing some twisted techno. He had the crowd moving comfortably, although he didn’t look so well to be honest, so he left for an early night at about 1.30am (probably for the best as he’s definitely a bad influence on me and I had to go to Adelaide on Sat). The crowd again seemed really spirits (like Sydney & Perth) and in no time we had a riot on our hands. I love it when people get vocal on the dance floor it makes for such a great atmosphere (inspires me too). I played for a couple of hours & hung around for Jamie Stevens from Infusion’s set, who played some cracking stuff. I had to stay as he forgot his headphones and used mine, but as it turned out I loved the straight edged techy stuff he was banging out.



All in all it was a great success - three great parties in a row….., although it did dawn on me afterwards, that I had agreed to do a secret gig in Melbourne next Friday (at Brown Alley for Darkbeat), and even my own saying is ‘you’re only as good as your last gig’ (in that city) so although I had a kickin’ party this Friday, I have to do it all again next Friday but on a larger scale, so I’m not out the woods just yet with the tough Melbourne crowd. Another whole week of worrying…. Great!

Well with Melbourne out the way I had the pleasure of Adelaide to look forward to. My only experience of Adelaide was one great party and one shockingly bad one when the air con broke down in the venue the night before (it was like DJing in a Turkish bath).

I was picked up and taken straight to the venue, it was a run down pub called Electric Light Hotel on the outskirts of town in need of some real attention. The sound guy turned round and said ‘oh you use cd’s’ we only have these old 1000’s mk 1’s (that were completely trashed), and the mixer was a Pioneer 500. He kind of gave me that ‘I know mate - I just work in this shit hole’ look. The sound system was about half the size of the monitoring system at Miss Libertine the night before.

I had been offered a room a with a shared bathroom) above the pub, so I opted to go and check into a hotel. At about 1am I got a call from the promoter who said ‘you’re on at 1.30am … I will grab you at 1.15am …. can you stick to R&B and the commercial end of dance music please’ (!). Before I had chance to say anything he hung up.

The thing is I get nervous about playing music that people come to hear me play and this added a new dimension to my fears. I sat outside the hotel and the guy picked me up 45 mins late at around 2am with two absolute bruisers. [It gets better] I was informed we were celebrating one of their mates ‘freedom’ and they couldn’t wait to hear me play …… that was the moment that I wished I was an R&B DJ with an arsenal of commercial house in the bag. We arrived at the pub and I’m thinking to myself , is there ever going to be a right moment to break it to these guys I’m not ‘the man’, or should I just duck into the toilets, climb out the window and run away!



I walked into the room and at best there were 20 people standing around with a big screen TV showing the Australian football highlights …. Writing this out now I couldn’t make this up if I tried, so I turned to the promoter and said can I have a word out side. I told him (in a begging way) that I felt I might not work so well and what I play may not appeal to his crowd, he responded with “oh, ok” and to my amazement I was off the hook (with my limbs still attached). I had a drink with the ‘free man’ who was celebrating by giving people dead arms (yes….i said Dead Arms!) , wished them all the best headed back to the hotel, grabbed my stuff and got the first flight I could get on out of Adelaide.

As a sat in my plush Melbourne hotel cafĂ© eating a world-class cooked English breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, toast, the whole bit….) I could hardly believe the previous 12 hrs ….

Monday 25 August 2008

7 hour ⅋ mix set



Here's the 7 hours from Saturday 23rd. Overcooked the bass in a few places - our PA system handles it fine, the recording software didn't like it so much! Gets a bit fuzzy on a couple mixes towards the end. My bad :/

Had to split this into two files. They should replay as one in most 'gapless' media players. There are no fade-in or fade-outs, so part 2 starts very abruptly. This set doesn't make a whole lot of sense with regards flow, but people were dancing from 10-11PM until 5AM. A bit more info on my other blog or feel free to bookmark my bar's web site and keep up with future mixes. This mix was also broadcast live over the Awdio network.

links to part 1 & 2 available here

edit: Partial listing of tracks played ... this is not in order, and appears to be about 40 tracks incomplete for whatever odd reason. I simply exported a chunk of the Traktor 'recent history' database. Good enough! Next time I will ensure my software keeps a better record.

Title Artist
Colici - Sascha Dive's Dark Beat Mix Miss Fitz
Charlotte - Dubfire Remix Booka Shade
Mr Dry - Original Mix TG (Tim Green)
Mango Cookie - DJ Koze's Pink Moon Remix Sascha Funke
Danse Avec Moi - Sascha Funke Remix Noze
Fingers Do The Walking - Original Mix Kenneth James G
Black In My Soul - Tiger Stripes Dub Vox Roland Clark
Colici - Sascha Dive's Dark Beat Mix Miss Fitz
Fluier De Tigan Livio & Roby
Milkyway - Original Mix H.O.S.H., Solomun
Cure - Oil Of Mars Vs. Samim Remix Miguel Toro
Life2Live - Loco Dice Remix Layo & Bushwacka
Tout Va Bien - Original Mix Matthias Meyer
Dubnitzky My Friend Is A Skunk
Similar Colors (12'' Version) - Original Mix Ben Klock
Tout Va Bien - Original Mix Matthias Meyer
L Delay - Original Mix Andomat 3000, Jan
Mr Dry - Original Mix TG (Tim Green)
Darkroom - Original Mix Martini Bros
Basement - Ed Davenport's No Strings Remix Den
Drums Of Spring - Original Mix H.O.S.H.
Changin - Original Mix Jens Bond
Black Bag Job (737) - Original Mix Donnacha Costello
Concious Movement (Marcus Meinhardt rmx) Harada
Guided By Light feat. Earth Reeves - Zurich Dub Jokke Ilsoe
I Want You (Forever) - Deadmau5 Remix Yousef, Carl Cox
Swimming with Sharks - Noir Re Edit John Acquaviva, Zenker
Mono Turn - Original Mix Broombeck
Double Checked - Original Mix Sascha Funke
The Space Dance - Radio Slave's E-space Remix Danny Tenaglia
Troya - Original Mix Noir
Grindhouse - Dubfire Terror Planet Remix Radio Slave
Dozer - Original Mix Sander Van Doorn
Deep Side Of The Moog - Original Mix Joris Voorn
Crawl Machine - Original Mix Maetrik
E - Original Mix Johannes Heil, Gregor Tresher
California Gold - Original Mix Adam Beyer, Agaric
Disorientation - Dub Mix Guy Gerber
Burlesque - Original Mix Eye Of Style
H.O.S.H. - Steppenwolf - Diynamic H.O.S.H.
KC Flightt_Funky Junction_Voices_Fata Morgana Remix
Thick Satin - Andomat 3000's Heinzland Remix Todd Sines
My Black Sheep - Radio Slave Remix Len Faki
Soleil - Delete's Vocal Remix (Digital Only) Johnny D
Tight Laces - Original Mix Loco Dice
Don't Feel No Shame feat. Kane Luke - Workidz Minimal Fox Instrumental Mix DJ Aron, Sample Guys
Snap Into It - Original Mix Audion
Get Yourself - Original Mix Elektrochemie
Devil's House - Original Mix Dapayk Solo
Panoramix - Original Mix Laurent Garnier
Enter The Drum - Original Mix Audiojack
H-Bomb - Original Mix Style Of Eye
Rise feat. Simone Denney - Popof Remix Rhythm Code
I Do Not Like Wurst In My Soup - Stimming Remix Michel De Hey
Mantrakoma - Original Mix Dusty Kid
Shlomi Aber Remix
Crazy Madness - Luca Bacchetti Remix Paul Rich
Let It Go (Don't Worry) - Original Mix Jussi Pekka
Karambolage - Martin Eyerer Remix Marc Romboy
Monimonster - Robert Burns Burnout Remix Abel Ramos
Diablo - Original Mix Oliver Huntemann, Dubfire
QYOZA - Original Mix Carlo Lio
Toronto - Original Mix Beckers, D-Nox
You Lose - Original Mix Milton Channels
Grindhouse - Danton Eeprom Remix Radio Slave
Serotone - Radio Slave's Panorama Garage Remix Matt OBrien
Outta My Life - Instrumental Dub Deadmau5, Billy Newton Davis
Jamaica - Dubfire Remix Minilogue
Silhouette - Original Mix Stephan Bodzin
Folger - Feeling Good Remix Shin, Stephan Hinz
White Pockets - Original Mix Steve Lawler, Jimmy Hill, Slajh
Mucky Star - Original Mix Elektrochemie
Meanwhile - Kollektiv Turmstrasse Remix Johnjon
Beaver Blink (Zodiac Cartel remix) Fine Cut Bodies
Torque (Original Mix) John Tejada
Swedish Silver - Paco Osuna Remix Adam Beyer
A Walking Contradiction Part 1 - Original Mix Adam Beyer
Epinikkion - Original Mix Wighnomy Brothers
Snap Into It - Original Mix Audion
Sex With Bass - Original Mix Maetrik
Sarahtov Airlines - Original Mix Benno Blome
Sexophonia - Original Mix Oel & Polygon

Sunday 24 August 2008

A Quick Hello













Greetings.

Just thought I would compose a quick message to introduce myself before we get down to business - my name is James, and I am the newest addition to the team of contributors for this rather delightful blog.

First of all, I'd like to doff my cap in the general direction of the man they call sHack; it's a great honour to be involved with this project, given that buying Elite Force records all those hazy years ago was one of the main reasons I decided that I wanted to be a DJ.

The main thrust of my posts will be to give exposure to producers or DJs that I feel are twisting the tech funk sound into interesting new shapes; also musings on the shifting sands of the music 'industry', links to studio resources, pretty much anything that will help you, the reader, to navigate the billowing clouds of hype that surround music today.

So - if you would like to submit anything for consideration or review, please email me at:

jamesalexanderfox |at| gmail.com

Thanks,

James.

Friday 22 August 2008

Elite Force - Jack the Joint (Zodiac Cartel's Bumpin' Mx)




A chunk of this new Zodiac Cartel Mix appears in the latest Ministry of Sound Sessions CD from Meat Katie, but here's the mix in it's entirity for you to preview. It's set to appear on U&A Recordings on 29th September as the 6th installment of the Re:Vision Series, alongside mixes from Deepgroove and Introspective.

For more info on Zodiac Cartel : http://www.myspace.com/zodiaccartel


Hyperion : Exclusive New Mixset



Hyperion : Promo Mix : August 2008

1. Fake Blood - Blood Splashing [Cheap Thrills]

2. DJ Dan - Seduction [InStereo Recordings]

3. Elite Force - Peyote Road (Hyperion's 'The Sun of Cactus' mix) [U&A]

4. DJ Dan - Needle Damage (Stupid Fresh mix) [Hyperion edit] [Audacious Records]

5. TVMR - Bowie In The Bronx (Shinichi Osawa mix) [Perspex]

6. Zoo Brazil - Sputnik [Hyperion edit] [Gung Ho! Recordings]

7. The Japanese Popstars - Sample Whore [Hyperion edit] [Gung-Ho! Recordings]

8. Jonathan Landossa - Hard Trip (Zodiac Cartel mix) [Hyperion edit]
[CDR]
9. Goose - Everybody (Les Petits Pilous mix) [Skint Records]
10. Streetlife DJs - Gunn Crime (Tekno mix) [Hyperion edit] [Kitsune]

11. Marcel Fengler - Friction [Ostgut Ton]

12. Hyperion - Gotta Hold It [U&A]

13. The Subs - Papillon (Yuksek & Brodinski mix) [Hyperion edit] [Lektroluv]
14. Dylan Rhymes - I Am Sweet (Hyperion's 'Into The Sun' mix) [Lot49]

DOWNLOAD LINK

Thursday 21 August 2008

Wave Editor - $79



Anyone who works with audio more than as just a passing hobby should appreciate this deal on right now from the chaps at Audiofile Engineering. For the price of a few rounds of drinks, you can legitimately own an absolutely pro bit of audio editing & mastering software. No, this will not make your music sound better. But if you deal with editing, format and sample rate conversion, DDP file creation ... plus a whole bunch of stuff I don't even use it for ... this application will make your life easier. Stop using that cracked copy of Bias Peak. Get Wave Editor. Mac only.

Incidentally, I think more software should be around this price bracket. Appreciated that development costs money but in the same breath it's easy to spend $50 to $100 and be able to justify it. Charge over $250 for a single application and the whole exercise starts to get pricey ... especially like me where you have a machine full of programs, many of which only get used a handful of times per year. Wave Editor on the other hand, gets used after every track.

Wednesday 20 August 2008

DATA remix competition



There's a new competition to remix DatA's latest single "Rapture" featuring Sebastien Grainger. The winning remix will receive 150 euro and will be featured on DatA's next digital EP. Nice!

To take part to this contest, just download the parts
here, and send your remix to datarmxcontest@gmail.com before September 14th!

Get crackin & by all means post your efforts in low-res in the comments here and on the Tech-Funk Forum

DatA - "
Rapture" ft. Sebastien Grainger
download parts

Tuesday 19 August 2008

Meat Katie - Australian Tour Blog pt.1 [EXCLUSIVE]




I always look forward to heading out to Australia. I have had some of the best shows in life there. I’m a worrier by nature I over think everything – can’t help it - I try not to be complacent … anyhow this year (2008) has been getting me a little bit more nervous than normal for lots of different reasons. The Australians are very critical about international DJs (sometime unfairly), and as this will be my last set of shows in Oz for at least two years, it means a lot to me to leave my relationship with the Australians on a high.

I’ve decided to take a little time out of touring in general, get my head down and finish a new solo Meat Katie album, develop the Dustbowl project (with Elite Force), and give Lot49 some serious attention. It’s been hard recently with trying to do the Sessions comp (2 x cd’s is a lot tougher!), along with some massive changes in my personal life which I won’t bore you with, its been near on impossible to concentrate on anything, so to say the least I felt unprepared before i left.

Well Perth and Sydney were my first stops this weekend & I’ve attached a small clip of the Ambar show, and it seems my confidence was well and truly reinstalled, and I went on to have the same response in Sydney (although I think I celebrated the fact a bit too much with a load of people I met on the night - mostly Dopamine & Gemma (his girlfriend’s) friends). It’s also worth mentioning Karl Sav, Bell & Megan - lovely people who bravely jumped on a plane straight after the Perth show and accompanied me to Sydney for another round…. The weekend finally ground to a halt on Tuesday morning!!!

I will up date you when I hit Melbourne (which is a tough one for me – I’ve only smashed it twice……..[I mean properly smashed it!]).

Wish me luck!

Meat Katie’s Ministry of Sound ‘Sessions 8.1’ Mix CD is OUT NOW.


Monday 18 August 2008

Paolo Mojo : Essential Mix


Paolo Mojo : Essential Mix on Radio One (UK)
16 August 2008

Paolo Mojo - Tribute (18 Posse Remake) (Oosh)
Darko Esser And Benny Rodriguez - Slaapgebrek (Laboratoire Subtile Mix) (Wolfskuil)
Gui Boratto - Haute Couture (Original Mix) Cocoon)

Radio Slave - Incognito (R&S Records)

Stimming - Una Pena (Diynamic)

Matthias Meyer - Tout Va Bien (Original Mix) (Liebe
Detail)
Josh Wink - Stay Out All Night (Pm's Organ Edit) (Ovum)

Paolo Mojo - Alininha (Oosh)

Deetron Feat. Justin Chapman - Lets Get Over It (Original
Mix) (Music Man)
Paolo Mojo - Brooks Theme (Oosh)
Henry Saiz - Hello (Renaissance )

The Ananda Project - Cascades Of Colour ( Paolo Mojo
Ambient Tool) (King Street Records)
Texi - Texi (White Label)
Moonface - U Get So Give (Paolo Mojo Getapella Intro Mix)
(Bedrock Records)
Pryda - Rafunk (Paolo Mojo's Back To 1983 Edit) (White
Label)
Sebastien Leger - Bambou (Mistakes)

Paolo Mojo & Jim Rivers - Ron Hardy Said (Eric Prydz
Remix) (Pryda Friends)
Andy Chatterley - Jets (Original Mix) (Alpha Beta)

Paolo Mojo - The Dancer (Original Mix) (White Label)

D Note - The Garden Of Earthly Delights (Xpress 2 Inner
London Ambience) (Dorado)
Paolo Mojo - Interstellar (Oosh)

Nsl Feat. Natasha Lo - I Can See Stars (Acapella) (White
Label)
Betoko Vs Sterling Void - Voyager Its Alright (Paolo Mojo
Mash Up) (White Label)
Paolo Mojo - Nightlaw (Essential Intro Mix) (Oosh)


http://depositfiles.com/files/7262488
http://uploaded.to/?id=xjqux5
http://filesmonster.com/download.php?id=5FAB0C171

Evil Nine - They Live!

Evil Nine - They Live! (Documentary + Video)

The Evil's long-awaited album project is now starting to see the light of day & there should be plenty of hype around it. The vocal hook for 'They Live!' is immense - instantly memorable I think - although I wasn't so into the musical content or the remixes. Nice work on the vidz though :))




Thursday 14 August 2008

Vandal remixes the mighty Futureheads ... free download

Many thanks to Sam for letting us add this to the blog - it recently appeared in the NME's as a free download, so for the underground ... here u go!

Before his Underworld-inspired conversion to electronic music, producer Vandal (real name Sam Evans) was a teenage metalhead – and he's never quite grown out of that youthful love of speaker-shredding volume and distortion.

Futureheads

That much is evident from his gleeful demolition of The Futureheads' 'This Is Not The World', which puts Barry Hyde's vocal to the scalpel, twisting the song into a firestorm of disco sirens and juddering bass. Listen out for the ray-gun bleep-onslaught four minutes in…

Download Vandal' s remix of The Futureheads' This Is Not The World as a free MP3

Create 'Midnight Madness'























You can now contribute to the Chemical Brothers' glittering nocturnal world by taking part in a unique, all-encompassing global video project using the Google Earth application!

Ever since their start in 1993, The Chemical Brothers have sound-tracked numerous special moments in countless people's lives. Now, The Chemical Brothers are giving their loyal fans a chance to give something back.

By making a short film or photograph that revolves around the theme of 'Midnight Madness' – the name of the band's latest anthem-in-waiting – you will get to upload your work onto Google Earth via The Chemical Brothers' website, and tag it to its exact location!

All you need to do is to make a film, from 2 to 20 seconds, celebrating the insanity that goes on at the stroke of midnight and upload it onto the band's website before 25 August 2008.

For details, go to www.thechemicalbrothers.com, and get ready to embrace the madness…

The best work will be edited by ace producers Nexus to form a new concept music video for 'Midnight Madness'. The film will then be streamed on the band's website and premiered as a YouTube exclusive on 1 September.

You can also tag and launch your favourite Chem's track from your location on Google Earth. So anyone passing your area can click on your location and discover which classic from the awesome duo is your favourite!

The single 'Midnight Madness' is released as a digital download on 18 August The Best of album 'Brotherhood' is released on 1 September

www.thechemicalbrothers.com

Monday 11 August 2008

Hyperion 'Gotta Hold It'





I'm really excited here at Tech-Funk HQ by the emergence of Hyperion (the Australian newcomers) onto the scene this year. For far too long now we've been crying out for some stellar fresh blood to come kicking the door down with new ideas, bags of energy and a dynamic fusion of sounds, and these boys have been rocking mine, and many other DJs worlds already this year. Here's a preview of what's to come next from them in the shape of their second single on U&A 'Gotta Hold It' which is gonna drop in early September with remixes from Lee Coombs and Calvertron (which I will post up shortly).

Feedback much appreciated.

Elite Force Musings 003 : Early Years as a Plastic Junky

[This piece originally appeared on Beatportal]














The key turns in the lock. Hands, damp with anticipation. Pushing gently, easing it apart. The bottom of the door catches on plastic wrap. Pushing some more. A red letterhead .... unmistakable card/postcard. Bending down with a broad grin, tossing aside the junk mail, the bills, the bank statements now.

Grabbing the card/postcard. The box is ticked. Reading quickly, scanning the scrawl ("we tried to deliver a package but you were out" blah, blah ....). A BIG number, annotated in a hurry. 4. FOUR. FOUR PACKAGES. What time? Shit, over an hour ago. Blinding!

They'll have it back at their base. Be quick, you'll catch them. Drop the shopping in the hallway. Abrupt about face. Mad scurry across town to beat the clock. They close at 12.30. 12.27 & they were expecting me.

Dave, I think his name is, has a dig around out back and then he's back. Four fat-stacked light brown 12-inch cardboard mailing squares sit in front of me. Sign forms. Mumble thanks. Calculus. "Must be three in here - and, is that 5?? ... ugh, just the one in this one, but their stuff's never any good ...".

Mentally unwrapped already, I slide apart the brown tape and peer into each package in turn, out in the light. I saunter home, read the accompanying blurb, imagine what I have in store, salivate just a little and smile to myself.

Twelve, yes twelve, slabs of high-grade, heavy duty, fresh cut slabs of mint condition vinyl await the gentle weight of my new stanton carts. Another perfect Saturday.

Later that night, I would be taking to the decks at Exeter University' s Lemon Grove. This was effectively my first proper DJ gig, and to say it was a baptism of fire was an understatement, and to be truthful I had blagged my way into a considerable promotion: for a couple of years I had been working security at the same night, and has been schooled in the dark art of providing entertainment to 1000+ students by a couple of my illustrious peers.

The first year I worked there, my good friend Frank Tope (of Rooty & Mixmag fame) was the resident, playing typically unforgiving sets that delved deep into Salsoul territory and whilst he had a small & devoted following, it wasn't until his unlikely successor Thom Yorke (yes, there is only one I know of) took over than the night began to soar. Thom was a close friend - at the time we were playing in several bands together - and as he was earning considerably more that I was, we would always arrive an hour early to listen through his latest 12's, and it was hugely exciting to hear the likes of Front 242, Shut Up & Dance, Massive Attack and the Young Gods rubbing shoulders with one another on that floor, and when Thom left to continue his work with some band or other back in Oxford, I seized the mantle and spent a happy 18 months cultivating my love of vinyl.

I had already been building quite a vinyl collection since being turned onto electronic music through a number of routes, routes that included the likes of Ministry & NIN as well as the burgeoning acid house movement, the cut & paste ethos of NWA, Eric B & Pubic Enemy and the dislocated downbeat grooves from the likes of Depthcharge & Renegade Soundwave, and this promotion simply funded my habit rather than line my pockets with silver. It also gave me my first passport to promo-land .....

...... Fast forward the future.













Promo culture is everywhere, and people crave 'upfront' copies of tracks as if they are the holy grail - the quick fix that will suddenly make them stellar talents overnight.

It goes without saying that nothing could be further from the truth, but given how easy it is now to disseminate copies of work just completed in the studio, it feels Iike there's been a real devaluing of many producer's studio output in their own eagerness for everyone to hear their latest work - in many cases, tracks are now being sent out unmastered, and in many cases, unfinished.

I am becoming a real fan of the digital age, and through it I have been exposed to a vast amount of music that would previously have been out of my reach, but somehow I don't think that the visceral thrill and mounting excitement that I'd have every Saturday on my walk to the Post Office will ever be matched by yet another yousendit link popping up in my inbox. Do you?

disuye083



New release from me coming out Thursday 20th August 2008 exclusively on Beatport. Exclusive not by some fancy twisted deal, but out of my laziness to create yet another account with yet another shop. So, without further ado here is "Fire Water" and "Mayonnaise" ... and odd combination, but it is BBQ season.

These two new releases are part of an ongoing master plan ... each month prior to my set at Yumla,I'll be releasing 2 of the tracks I'd put together for the set. Full explanation here and here.

I hate offering one track over another but for the sake of marketing "Fire Water" would be the a-side ... proggy without being progressive. Hell yes, all we need is another genre. Neo-prog. Long open bass, hypnotic kick drum groove, sweeping white noise jammily crafted into pads and all about three minutes longer than it needs to be. No issue ... I write tracks with Traktor users in mind, so that extra meandering length is easily dealt with as necessary. Or not.

Flip duties fall on "Mayonnaise" ... quite silly ... a never ending melodic synth / bass build unpinned by comedy drums and a lovely kick drum. More white noise. Just can't enough of that. This track is a little bit rocky, but the work 'rock' gets thrown around in electronic music circles too much so I'd prefer to avoid using that as a descriptor. An overdriven synth is not rock. It's a gay little fuzzy synth. Anyway, clarifying my use of the word: This track does have a subby bass which eventually morphs into a clipped electric bass guitar and there are comedy live drums being shoddily played by yours truly. But that's it. Fun track to brighten up techno lives. It's summer.




Friday 8 August 2008

Pro 7 - Over (Scientifics Remix)




Artist: Pro 7

Release: Over (Scientifics Remix)

Label: Erase Records




The Greek minimalist tech-house and progressive breaks trio The Scientifics, have been relentless with their label, VIM, and their collective and individual output as of late, and this remix for Erase is a testament to that. This one is for the headier jocks by a mile. It does well digging out of the darker corners or from the ditches of routine fodder and easily transitions to tougher or trippier material, the destination being entirely dependant on the ride and the scenery, right? It’s also a fine example of the maturation of one’s sound through tireless experimentation and the distillation of multiple genres to meld only the most necessary and classic of their elements. I mention the classic elements because either by design or by chance, this has that sound, like a track you could’ve lost your mind to a dozen or more years ago in a condemned warehouse. Devoid of the flashiness of any current trend or hook, this remix evokes a tone that bridges new and old in the techno, tech-house and bleepy beats genres. This timelessness, it's a sound or aesthetic that eludes a large percentage of producers today, who are content to create soundtracks for only the most immediate of moments. But we're all well aware of the fact that the immediate is just a strobe flash. So tunes like these are welcome additions to the ever expanding loop.

Thursday 7 August 2008

Yumla Charts on Beatport

Just a quick post regarding Yumla – the four main resident DJs and myself now have our charts added onto Beatport. What is interesting is that we all play a similar sound but there is literally only one or two tracks overlapping amongst the five charts! Techno, tech-house, minimal, progressive, deep-house, electronica, chill-out, tools ... all the good stuff is covered.

You can check them out at the direct links below or just go to Beatport at anytime in the future, type "Yumla" in the Search-All box and every chart from us will be displayed.


I will blog a biography and a quick interview with each of the resident DJs in the near future. And keep an eye out for their productions in the very near future.