Sven Väth In The Mix

Need to take a trip through the dance music of 2008? On his double mix CD, Sven Väth will take you on that nostalgic journey through the forgotten club moments of the last year.

On one CD, ‘Disco’, he plays explosive club techno tunes, whilst on the next ‘Invaders’, he takes us through some deep house grooves – both of these genres have been the foundation of his DJ-ing throughout his career.

The contrast between the two seems like something of a personal exploration for Sven Väth. Influenced heavily by both house and techno club music, these mixes find him drawing a satisfactory division between the two genres and their evident profundity for him, without having to try to blend them into one set.

Whilst Sven Väth is naturally a club DJ, this doesn’t mean that his mixes only work on large scale amplification. The depth of the electronic tracks he uses is such that they work both on a public and personal level, penetrating both bedroom and dancefloor in interestingly different ways.

Whilst you don’t really come across recognisable club hits on Sven Väth’s mixes, there are still some great cult techno tunes from the likes of Vancouver’s Matthew Johnson (Symphony for the Apocalypse), the tribal ‘Buiya’ by Ahem Sisman and Cocoon records’ own Timo Maas.

On the house CD, contributions to the mix come from Anthony Colllins, SIS and Sven Tasnadi.

The music is exciting and at times beautiful. The CDs are long, though – a really intense and demanding psych-out trip for two and a half hours. Don’t be off put by that, though, or by the terrible album cover and Väth’s German name – this is good club music for the hardcore club fans.

Sven Väth In The Mix – The Sound of the Ninth Season is released on Cocoon records on the 26th January.

venue: Concorde2, Brighton
Hosted by: Tru Thoughts/Ninja Tunes
Date: 5th December 2008

Years of digging in unlikely places have made a Mr Scruff live gig an eclectic proposition. A departure from the signature happy-go-lucky floor fillers of years gone by, tonight is a Latin flavoured evening of spice and foreign grooves. The floor is sticky and the Tru Thoughts devotees are out in force to prove they tango and bop as hard as any South American dance hall. As expected, the progression of genres was flawless all at once maraca shaking, boot-ilicous and heart warming.

In a sea of retarded dub bass lines and ego driven electronica dominating Brighton’s sea front club mentality, it’s refreshing to have such a hefty crowd enjoying older tunes.

The songs crackle, feel dilapidated but in no sense archaic. It’s a diverse selection, in awe of both the anonymous players of times gone by, and the producers and selectors persistent in pushing forgotten tunes into the present public’s consciousness.

The crowd wasn’t what was expected. I’d made assumptions about cultured world music snobs and Giles Peterson look-a-likes in full attendance, but instead there was a younger enthusiastic audience representing. jiving on the stage, smiling, ecstatic at the atmosphere they were creating, housed in that cave of a venue.

I’ve noticed we’ve developed this discourse, standing outside clubs talking “sick” tunes and “ridiculous drops”. But tonight’s outside posers are filled with a more sophisticated praise. A language of obscure genres and references to the hidden treasures of dusty record boxes. Rather than jumping up, we’re swaying and enticing our friends with exotic gestures which somehow feel apt. Our shoes are flailing, we’re tripping up in our fluffed attempts at the tango.

But it’s the tough selection tonight, the blend of the rare and unknown with the contemporary dance floor orientated tunes that they’ve influenced that works so well. The night was a celebration of this niche sound, which for these few twilight hours, we’re so happy we’ve found.

And then we walk home , arms entwined, hiding from the harsh coastal winds, humming melodies we’re sure we heard: Peruvian piano loops, brash brass breaks, a tinnitus of castanets.

Thomas Schumacher: Picanha

It may have just hit deep midwinter here, but in the words of Barack Obama, I’m fired up. Thomas Schumacher’s Picanha has brought carnival and club to my under-heated room and in no tentative manner.

Thomas Schumacher’s first single release on Get Physical’s sister label Get Digital is two distinctive orchestrations, Picanha and Late Night Thing, that both thump, resonate and fill the room with their upbeat trance-like rhythm and uninhibited digitalism.

Thomas Schumacher’s production on Picanha is immaculate: the layers of percussion are precise; the bass is perfectly equalised against the groove; the drums build up in layers creating that carnival style rhythm that is satisfyingly confirmed when the brass enters the mix.

Late Night Thing is a subtler track that echoes and bustles through the speakers. The hissing, rattling hi-hats and the tropical synths create a jungle-like sound that is interrupted only by the vocals.

Pichana is probably the best upbeat electro track I’ve heard all year, and Late Night Thing is a contender for second. Thomas Schumacher is definitely worth a listen for anyone into electro, anyone who needs their faith in dance music restored, or anyone who just needs a little warming up this winter.

It will be released digitally on December 8th and on vinyl on the 10th.

For Thomas Schumacher’s MySpace page, click here.

Max Tundra 2009 UK Tour & New Single

Max Tundra releases a new download single, Which Song, which is taken from his recently released third studio album, Parallax Error Beheads You on 2nd February 2009.

Which Song will be released amidst a string of UK dates, which, having recently supported Hot Chip on an extensive UK tour, sees Max play the following shows:

JANUARY 2009
28th Cardiff Shape Function / Club Ifor Bach (w/ Ben Butler & Mouse Pad)
29th Bristol The Fleece (with Ben Butler and Mouse Pad)
30th London Cargo (with Pete Um, Ben Butler and Mouse Pad)
31st Brighton Freebutt (with Ben Butler and Mouse Pad)

FEBRUARY 2009
3rd Cambridge Soul Tree (with Ben Butler and Mouse Pad)
5th Leeds Brudenell Social Club (with Ben Butler and Mouse Pad)
6th Manchester Deaf Institute
7th Bracknell South Hill Park

There are more ideas crammed into the 41 minutes of Max Tundra’s third album than most bands manage in their whole careers. Parallax Error Beheads You is a masterpiece of micro-melodies and sound-bytes; a triumph of splicing, dicing and editing. It’s an intricate mosaic of sounds and styles, some of which you might recognise from the last 30 years of pop, rock, prog, disco, funk, techno, rap, metal and soul, but many of which are completely new: either from a startling recombination of existing genres, or from Max inventing an original one himself. The attention to detail, and the sheer speed at which ideas whizz past you in the mix, will leave you stunned.

Mentioning that Which Song sounds like Scritti Politti had they signed to Warp in 1991, Max admits, “I like the Scritti comparisons.” For him, 80s pop isn’t a Guilty Pleasure, it’s an untapped resource.

In between furiously mixing and matching and inventing new futures for pop he’s been supporting himself by doing remixes of other bands, both unofficially (Missy Elliot, The Strokes) and officially (Franz Ferdinand, Futureheads, Pet Shop Boys).

For more information visit www.myspace.com/maxtundra.

Get Physical release a two track techno house 12″ this month from Gel Abril.

Gel Abril aka Roy Brizman is a well known and respected DJ in Israel.

Gel Abril aka Roy Brizman makes freaky and twisted techno and house music.  Gel Abril’s original twist might be down to his love of early 1980’s electronic music from the likes of Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk and Front 242.

Gel Abril - Miranda
Miranda starts so promisingly, a warm thump of a bass drum, a few flutters of sound emerging over the top.  Then in comes a mellow refrain of a loop, followed by a helter skelter of a loop.

I really liked the heavier dropping keyboard, but hang on.  Did we really need every effect available in a studio to be involved?

Essentially, to the mind of this reviewer, less can be more, less can be more.

Gel Abril - Dusty
Now this is more to my ears. A warm squuggle of a bass line, judicious use of a little sound like a drop…and we could be, yes, we are going into that 3a.m. soundtrack of darkness on the dancefloor that builds itself up to just the right pitch of excited bleeps and wriggle.

Now, if I was looking for the one to remix then ‘Dusty’ could be moulded into quite the hip wriggling hole that we do so love for the early hours.

For more information visit Gel Abril’s MySpace page.

Telefon Tel Aviv - Immolate Yourself - album review

Telefon Tel Aviv is the bizarre name for US based Joshua Eustis and Charles Cooper, and Immolate Yourself is their third album following previous releases, Fahrenheit Fair Enough (2001) and Map Of Effortless (2004).

Immolate Yourself is an interesting electronic album that moves between atomspheric and electro pop.

The opening track, The Birds, is like a contemporary Beloved electro pop song whereas other tracks such as Helen Of Troy and the title track, Immolate Yourself are reminiscent of Depeche Mode in a time between their synth pop glory and darker more meaningful days.

All these references are tinted with a fresh, contemporary take rather than a simple copycat retro eighties sound.

Other tracks move further away from the standard electro pop category.  Made A Tree On The Wold and Stay Away From Being Maybe build slowly with atmospheric tension.  The latter reminding me of the intro to U2’s anthemic Where The Streets Have No Name.

Though Telefon Tel Aviv keep the lid on the lighters and the intro ends with the outro, leaving me with a deep thought-provoking mood more akin to the deepness of a Joy Division track than any shallow stadium rock.

Immolate Yourself grows on me. Telefon Tel Aviv are making some interesting dark moody electro pop in a similar vain to Depeche Mode.

Telefon Tel Aviv - Immolate Yourself is due for release on 23rd January 2009 on the BPitch Control label.

Brael

Brael is Steve Dannemiller and Joachim Hero. They are an ambient, electronic, experimental group who come from Connecticut.

They have already released one record in collaboration with the group Tokyo Bloodworm, which was entitled Living Language. They are now taking this as the basis for their new Mobeer record through Moteer.

Having experienced success with the Living Language – Brael were album of the week on Boomkat and had ‘Morning of the World’ played on Radio 1 by Mary-Anne Hobbes – the new Mobeer release features two of the Brael solo songs from that record reworked and extended into more full, epic pieces.

These are the aforementioned ‘Morning of the World’ (in its new form on the Mobeer release as ‘Morning’) and ‘Magic Wand’ (‘Magic’).

The fourth track was also on Living Language, but here appears in its original form, and almost unrecognisable. Other tracks come from the past two years that longtime friends Steve Dannemiller and Joachim Hero have produced together.

The album opens with ‘Morning’, a slow starter, which begins in a minimalist style (the sounds are later echoed in pleasing circularity on the album closer ‘Ocean’), before expanding into a Four Tet like downtempo rhythm made from crisp-as-they-come hi-hats and echoey snares. The sounds over the top are melodic, but more ethereal than Four Tet’s earthly sounds, and this sets the tone for the rest of the album.

Brael really work the creamy sounds of sliding guitars and synths, blending them into pieces of very relaxed electronica, as is the case on ‘Magic’. The warm, ambient sound of their work is also apparent on tracks like ‘Northern Trees’, which along with ‘Guanopolis’ form the most experimental pieces of music at the end of this album. This break from the recognisable (Brael have a lot of affinity with Boards of Canada) is when Brael are at their best, creating really interesting, engaging, innovative and ambiguous pieces of ambient electronica.

The album comes in hand-made packaging, limited to 300 copies. You can order it from Boomkat, Norman Records, and Small Fish.

Visit their MySpace to find out what it’s all about.

Yo! Majesty UK Tour & Single for 2009

After an eventful and successful 2008, which saw Yo! Majesty rock the UK with the release of the Kryptonite Pussy EP, their debut album Futuristically Speaking… Never Be Afraid and the dancefloor hit single Club Action, Yo! Majesty are now setting their sights on even bigger things for 2009.

Fresh from a full UK tour with Neon Neon and a raucous headline show at London’s Barfly, Jwl B and Shunda K have just announced the release of their next single, Don’t Let Go, due for release on March 30th 2009 as well as a full UK headline tour.

Yo! Majesty’s 2009 Spring tour of the UK & Ireland will kick off at the Cluny in Newcastle on March 17th and will see them playing dates until early April, including two shows in London at Club NME at Koko on March 20th and at Cargo on March 31st.

Yo! Majesty 2009 Tour Dates:

Tue 17 Mar 2009 Newcastle Cluney
Wed 18 Mar 2009 UK Leeds The Faversham
Thu 19 Mar 2009 UK Sheffield Leadmill 2
Fri 20 Mar 2009 UK London Koko Club NME
Sat 21 Mar 2009 UK Bristol Thekla
Sun 22 Mar 2009 UK Brighton Audio
Tue 24 Mar 2009 UK Wolves Civic
Wed 25 Mar 2009 UK Liverpool  Club Evol
Thu 26 Mar 2009 UK Manchester Ruby Lounge
Fri 27 Mar 2009 UK Edinburgh Caberat Voltaire
Sat 28 Mar 2009 UK Glasgow Stereo
Tue 31 Mar 2009 UK London Cargo
Wed 01 Apr 2009 UK Nottingham Bodega
Thu 02 Apr 2009 UK Dublin Crawdaddy

Make & Do by Merka - album review

Make & Do by Merka - album review

This month Merka releases his second album, Make & Do, following his critically acclaimed 2007 debut Berserka.

Merka aka Mark Ford builds on the success of Berserka with a journey of an album that sounds like it should sit somewhere between an original studio album and a DJ mix CD.

The truth is, Make & Do is 12 original tracks mixed together that pulls the listener through several sounds and genres from upbeat jazz house to darker drum & bass and heavier old skool hardcore sounds.

Merka’s diversity of style is to merge old sounds with new, contemporary inventiveness.  Make & Do eases you in with the soulful house of Back Home before turning the heat on with the harder techno beat of Blueberry, through the hardcore of Brainstom and the drum & bass of Someone To Hold.

Make & Do is a great second album from Mark Ford aka Merka.

For more information visit www.TheFatClub.com

NYC by Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid - album review

NYC by Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid - album review

Before cementing his name in the world of electronica under the guise of Four Tet, Kieran Hebden found praise as part of the alternative, contemporary jazz-induced electronica of Fridge; and with jazz percussionist Steve Reid, Kieran Hebden finds a perfect partner for experimentation outside his solo remit.

NYC is Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid’s fourth album in three years which suggests they both get much enjoyment from the sessions they have together.

NYC was recorded over two days earlier this year at Avatar, a studio in the infamous Hells Kitchen location of New York.  The concept was to record an album that expressed Reid & Hebden’s impressions of New York, Steve Reid’s hometown.

NYC comprises of six tracks where Steve Reid is credited with playing percussion and Kieran Hebden credited as playing ‘electronics’. Hebden’s electric guitar screeches and loops along with keyboards, samples, loops and plenty of live knob-twiddling.

As with other Hebden / Reid collaborations, NYC is interesting, deep and emotional; and generally less commercial and more an acquired taste to the Four Tet releases.

NYC by Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid tracklisting:

1. Lyman Place
2. 1st & 1st
3. 25th Street
4. Arrival
5. Between B & C
6. Departure

NYC is out now on Domino Records

For more information visit www.KieranHebdenandSteveReid.com