Currently Surging

Been having a bit of a Serge Santiago week which is always a good thing. Managed to dig up a couple of tracks I hadn't heard before, including this Roxy Music edit. Complete and utter uncompromising extravagance. Nothing happens in a rush here, this edit is 15 minutes of Santiago destruction. There are parts where it dawdles a tad, as you'd have to expect, but it's really just excellent. Also just picked up his edit of Tenebre which has this killer Hypnosis tune on the flip - A grade stuff! Lurve you Serge.

Serge Santiago - Angel Eyes (Epic Edit) [buy]

Hypnosis - Pulstar (Serge Santiago Edit) [buy]

I impulsively bought this Rosebud record with covers of Have A Cigar and Money, which are pretty B-grade but earn bonus points for the novelty factor. This iss definitely not an amazing song but I'm a huge Floyd fan and 70s disco covers are always a good laff. From what I can gather Rosebud were a bunch of renowned French(?) session musos who came together for this project - unfortunately the tribute LP they came up with kinda stinks. Am I selling this one well? Meh give it a go, it probably won't ruin your life.

Rosebud - Money (Pink Floyd Cover) [buy]

Woolfy's new album If You Know What's Good For Ya!! is out now on DFA/Rong. Sadly I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet but I've been enjoying the remixes bundled with the LP. Was a struggle to decide which to post - the burning percussive Lee Douglas remix of The Warehouse or the soothing dreamy Carlos Hernandez remix of Two Far Gone. I've got a bit of a soft spot for Lee so that seals the deal. I'm always curious about Woolfy's music, some of his stuff is really on the money for me whilst other times I could give it a miss. Either way, really looking forward to hearing this album.

Woolfy - The Warehouse (Lee Douglas Remix) [buy]

As predicted, Keep Me In My Plane is the new WhoMadeWho single which has already copped a bunch of remixes. It was probably far too optimistic to expect the same consistent quality of all of The Plot's remixes, but there are a couple of winners in the bunch. This deep and slightly techy DJ Koze dub is a beauty. It's.... really deep. Yeah. Nice.

WhoMadeWho - Keep Me In My Plane (DJ Koze Hudson River Dub) [buy]

This just in: Clap Rules' new track is spectacular. I can confidently say that they're my favourite artists of 2009 so far. Fabrizio Mammarella and his two partners in crime seriously know how to work a sequencer and wakka-wakka a guitar. Whilst this track isn't quite as excitingly original as the tunes on Old Sequencer, it's still a top shelf quality groove. I would kill to see these guys live... Could someone please bring them to Australia RIGHT NOW? Thanks. This is only a 128 taste - buy this record quick, the label says it's limited to 200 copies. Don't wait for a repress :)

Clap Rules - Buio Omega [buy]

SPEND THOSE DOLLARS. BE GOOD CONSUMERS. SHED YOUR GUILT.

Trudging On

Back to business as usual. I've been listening to this one tune in particular after I found I'd kinda missed it on a record i bought a while ago. Which seems to happen a lot... I'm the worst listener. It's by Stratus and features on Eskimo's fab Cosmic Balearic Beats collection (of which I hear there is another on the way!) which has some groovy beatage from In Flagranti, Lullabies In The Dark, Phoreski, Bottin etc etc. You may find this track drags on a bit, or you may not. For me it's just sublime the moment the bassline surges in - it's so easy to get lost in the dreamy galactic synths. Hope you dig it!

Stratus - Footprints

The remixes of The Plot keep rolling in, and despite my disappointment with WhoMadeWho's second effort in the studio, I'm constantly impressed with the numerous offspring that have been popped out as a result of late night motel encounters with various producers. The surprisingly un-quirky Discodeine mix, Lutzenkirchen's dark techno rumbler, and Noze's beautifully crafted dreamy version have all really done it for me. Now I'm listening to the Muzzle Flash remix a fair bit and I'm quite enjoying it's sneaky upbeat vibe. The chorus is especially great! Although for me the album was a letdown, perhaps this shows that with a bit of outside help the songs can be turned into something pretty spesh!

WhoMadeWho - The Plot (Muzzle Flash Remix)

Speaking of Noze, I found this track from quite a while ago in amongst things which AGAIN I think I missed. Something a bit different to what I'd usually post, but it's fun and happy and cool and I like it. Can't think of a fifth reason. Cop it!

Noze - Remember Love

Every Disco Deviance record I've bought has been a screamer. Probably my favourite track I've heard is Boogie Corporation's fantastic edit/remix/whatever you'd call it of The Clash's Magnificent Seven (or to be more correct, the dub of it called Magnificent Dance.) Actually it's a total, barely recognisable makeover - the bassline is about the same, and maybe slices of the percussion, that's it. Whatever, it's brilliant! Dazzling string disco with fresh new production elements which, overall, can't be disliked.

Disco Deviance - Magnificent Disco (BC Edit)

As an aside, Sydney pals Generic Podcast are going to be running nights in the coming months and building an empire of irony, have a peeky and get in the loop early. They know what they're doing.

WhyUpsetMe

Well, the new WhoMadeWho album is out. I'm tempted to lie, but after my first listen I have to admit I expected something more. It's still very good but lacks the energy, chunky arrangements and quirky edge their self-titled debut had. I'm hoping on second/third/tenth listen it'll blossom into some magical tasty Danish butter cookie. But not yet. The songs that caught my ear which might be blogworthy, aside from TV Friend and The Plot, are Motown Bizarre because it's still got that classic peculiar sound, and Keep Me In My Plane which is just good solid WMW light pop. And I guess the Munk edit of This Train which adds a bit of spice with chubby distortion. Perhaps I'm just clinging to the first album too much. It shouldn't be surprising that in 4 years they've changed their sound somewhat. That bass just isn't what it used to be...

WhoMadeWho - Motown Bizarre

WhoMadeWho - Keep Me In My Plane

WhoMadeWho - This Train (Munk Bonus Edit)

Let's move on to more positive things shall we? I've been punishing this mini-record for the last couple of weeks and it refuses to leave my stereo. Yes I'm pretty late with it, but a couple of years ago Bullion put together a fucking fantastic reworking of the Beach Boys' masterwork Pet Sounds as a tribute to J Dilla. I am in no way shape or form a fan of hip hop, I like virtually none, and this is certainly not hip hop in any traditional sense but the grooves and the extremely clever editing and arranging shoot this into a whole new galaxy of awesome. A lot of people say Bullion and The Avalanches in the same sentence. I still can't decide if I'm one of those people (I guess I just did though) but they're pretty much on the same level of kick ass. This is even more of a treat if you already love Pet Sounds, but I reckon a crucial listen for anyone who likes cool music!

Bullion - Pet Sounds: In The Key Of Dee

Um okay here's some more old stuff I need to offload for the sake of fleshing out this post. A splendid old Shit Robot remix (one of James Murphy's many partners in crime) featuring plenty of dicking around with different synths and the occasional dorky vocal. The Echologist track is super mega dubby, Salmonella Dub with bigger subs. Choof choof. The Faze Action tune is just a bit of silly space house. All in all nothing that special but there's some minutes of your day wasted if you need it.

Dondolo - Dragon (Shit Robot Remix)

Echologist - Faith (NY Mix)

Faze Action - Spark (Dub Mix) [removed by request]

And just because this song is eternally fantastic (cleaned up by Mr. Terje)

America - Horse With No Shame (Todd Terje Edit)

Playing at Fringe Bar on Oxford St tomorrow night for both Disco Delicious and Hobo Gestapo. And maybe Sosueme depending on how drunk things get. Observe the flyer and come say hello!

Colours of Colours

Having a bit of a Prins Thomas moment right now after finding a record of his I thought I'd lost and giving it another whirl. I was supposed to post his Force of Nature mix before I left and somehow missed putting it in the pile, so here it is belated and brilliant. Super chunky bass, hot percussion. His ability to sound like a true master of everything inbetween cosmic disco and techno is pretty impressive.

Force of Nature - To The Brain (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)

These are a couple of really interesting tunes I stumbled across during the week. Although the majorness of the Mugwump tune kind of irritates me a bit, I guess I can peer through my haze of bitterness and see that it's a really nice fun song. Just really playful and happy. Raoul7000 runs a really neat albeit sparse blog where I found this amazing edit he's done. The editing style and sound really reminds me a lot of In Flagranti. Lots of fucking with the structure, a big emphasis put on the bassline, pounding drums. This is definitely one of the coolest tunes I've heard lately. Viva el kazoo!

Mugwump - Ignored Folklore

Skyy - Skyyzoo (Raoul7000's Acme Edit)

This is another tune that was in my 'to post' pile and somehow vanished. Love Todd Terje's stuff, gutted that I missed him in Sydney a few weeks ago. The Chaz Jankel edit is a delight - the song is given a bit more space and disco atmosphere. The beautiful keys always send me to the clouds. And for good measure here's his classic Stevie Wonder edit. As close to perfect as it gets..

Chaz Jankel - Glad to Know You (Todd Terje Re-Edit)

Stevie Wonder - Superstition (Todd Terje Edit)

How much WhoMadeWho is too much WhoMadeWho? I suppose it's easy to just keep posting stuff of theirs since it's always going to be a guaranteed winner. Easy blogging! Anyway I've really warmed to In Flagranti's mix of Out the Door over the months after not being totally sure about it initially. A little dark at first but slowly little things are added here and there to brighten it up. It's a nice listen.

WhoMadeWho - Out The Door (In Flagranti Remix)

More more more more more more more coming.

Regresar

Made my triumphant albeit bittersweet return to Sydney yesterday, had a quick fly around Beatport and collected a few goodies both new and old. From now on expect things to be getting back on track! Or I hope that's what happens, since I don't have an excuse to be posting sub-par stuff anymore. Seems there's plenty of good stuff I've missed, so here we go...

Will be a good year with WhoMadeWho's new album on the horizon. Really enjoying the bits and pieces that have come my way, still with their signature quirkiness and droooool basslines. The single is pretty solid and it's got some nice remixes. Discodeine's is my fave, though I guess not really what I was expecting. More... normal? Either way they're both great tunes - promising for what's ahead.

WhoMadeWho - The Plot (Club Mix)

WhoMadeWho - The Plot (Discodeine Remix)

Discodeine and the whole Dirty crew get me really excited. I really dig their latest (not really that recent anymore) release, Tom Select. Super dirty and raw, sans yucky distortion. Perhaps not for everyone but for me it's a nice dark change of mood to a lot of stuff I'm listening to. Refreshing. Joystick, on the other hand, is super retro-synthy and upbeat vibey, one of those songs that instantly sounds like a classic you've known for years. Great melody. If you're not familiar with Dirty Sound System, Pilooski and the whole thing they're doing, investigate!

Discodeine - Tom Select

Discodeine - Joystick

Just randomly came across these: A couple of nice easy going soulful laid back discofunk tunes to mix things up. The Amplified Orchestra tune is a beautiful lounge groove to down some Mojitos to. Ultra hip bassline, ultra cool fluttering jazz organ. The Funkworks track is more upbeat with a retro-been-remixed vibe to it. Which I think it is? Good clean fun, nothing over the top - it's just a winning formula.

Amplified Orchestra - U Can't Help But Dance

Funkworks - Dancin' (I Just Can't Stop)

I love love love Escort's sound and was thrilled to find this new gem on my hunt. I didn't particularly like the original Zombi tracks it came with, but Escort predictably manage to perform a super tight funk makeover. Totally solid.

Zombi - Sapphire (Escort Remix)

This old Max Tundra really hits the spot for me. Is there an extended version of it anywhere? Great chopped up vocals from well before the electro era of vox megaediting and completely overdoing it. I have to say I'm still a sucker for it when it's done well like this. I just wish this wasn't such a tease!

Max Tundra - MBGATE

OK. More on the way. Sorry to those who have emailed in the last few months, I'm many thousands behind so it's going to take a long long time to catch up. Promise I'll listen to everything at some point though!

Hood

Firstly, for those of you lucky enough to be in Sydney at the moment, if anybody is keen to see EDU K (Sweat It Out's latest Latino addition) I've got a couple of double passes to throw at people. The baile funk maestro is supported by Ajax (still Australia's #1 hero) and MC Gaff-E (world's #1 wardrobe) on this friday the 14th (after good vibes / valentines!) at the Art Factory. Should be a killer night, email me your full name quickly and you shall be hooked up.

Secondly, just jumped on a new WhoMadeWho track from the upcoming album which I'm super stoked about! It's classic WMW, heaps of energy, heaps of fun, heaps of yumyumyum bassline. Really excited to hear the album whenever it's coming out.. You've all heard me frothing over them in recent weeks due to their Aus visit.

WhoMadeWho - Swedish Meatballs

Nextly, some more old but great Metro Area tunage. I'm sure most of you guys know Miura and plenty more will have heard Erodyne but I'm not fussed. Such quality music. I'm always hugely impressed by the way they're albe to synthesise such brilliant sounds and arrange things so delicately so that everything fits like a glove. I just hope they keep churning music out - I hear Morgan Geist isn't all that keen on it anymore.

Metro Area - Miura

Metro Area - Erodyne

Lastly, check out the Beats In Space best of 08 podcast. Amazing. Marry me Tim Sweeney? It's the January 13th one I think.

Sucre was such a cool town. Can't manage to go anywhere without becoming the target of a water fight. Ah it's a hard life being a gringo. Taking a train to brazil (ooh Guillemots reference) tomorrow night, wheee! Super keen.

Compo Grande

4 eternities of turbulent flying, 3 flat tyres, 2 hundred degrees celcius and 1 million mosquito bites later and we've returned from the Amazon Basin to La Paz. Good times. Pink dolphins are sweet.

As excited as I am to be in La Paz, I have to express my JEALOUSY that WhoMadeWho are playing Sydney this weekend (Saturday the 31st of Jan) at the Oxford Art Factory. I've frothed over them since the release of their brilliant debut album and still haven't had the chance to see them in the flesh. Seriously devo. However, I do have a couple of double passes to give away for the show so if you're around and you're not a complete donkey, email me your full name and answer this super tough question:

Are the Presets gay?

Who cares, really? ALSO ALSO ALSO, two weeks after on the 14th of Feb, also at the OAF, Sweat It Out's latest signee EDU K from Brazil (tehe I'll be there soon) will be busting out some fidgety tunes alongside Ajax and MC Gaff-E. I don't have any way of sharing any of his choonz, but hit up his myspace. If you're keen, also swing me an email with your full name and answer this brain bending piece of trivia:

What is the difference between a crocodile and an aligator?

Because I'd actually like to know the answer to that and don't feel like looking it up myself.

Like I said, I'm not able to download or upload any music here, so I'll just repost the only WhoMadeWho tracks I've put up before for the sake of it. BOO HOO.

Munk - Kick Out The Chairs (WhoMadeWho Remix)

WhoMadeWho - TV Friend (Hot Chip Remix)

WhoMadeWho - Flat Beat

Another dig from the vault: I love The Juan Maclean. Lotsies. GMELT has to have one of the coolest basslines ever manifested, no? Such a fun, irresistable song. I've also always liked the Cajmere mix - bit of a closet fan of the whole jackin' Chicago House thing, and this one is nice and twisted. The Marcus Worgull remix of the Simple Life is a chilled little expeditition to groove out to in a hammock somewhere. There are so many hammocks in South America, it's wonderful.

The Juan Maclean - Give Me Every Little Thing

The Juan Maclean - Give Me Every Little Thing (Cajmere Remix)

The Juan Maclean - Simple Life (Marcus Worgull Remix)

Happy Australia Day! Except it's not still Aus day in Aus anymore. But it is here. So chill. K.. Send entries in sooooooon so I can get it all sorted.

These Post Titles Are Getting Lazier And Lazier. Sorry.

So during what is probably my 800th relapse into a WhoMadeWho obsession (not an exaggeration) I had a look at what they've been up to lately and subsequently ended up having a huge dig through the whole Gomma Records back catalogue. So many forgotten classics, so many great gems I'd missed. In particular, I'm always stoked to be reminded of Munk's Kick Out The Chairs. Is it just me or does Nancy Wang have an amazingly sexy voice? I can't not love any song she's in. Anyway, I'd like to get some opinions here - do you guys prefer the WhoMadeWho or Tomboy remix? The WMW one is fun and bouncy with chaotically fast vocals, whilst the Tomboy one is a high speed train of crazy bashing synths with a bit of room to move with the lyrics - it also has a bit of nostalgic value for me since the Bang Gang used it in Mashed Two. They're both wacky tunes. I was also going to post the *deep breath* Tomboy Dub Edit of the Hot Chip remix of WhoMadeWho's 'TV Friend' but have to say I prefer the unedited version with the vocals. So there.

Munk - Kick Out The Chairs (WhoMadeWho Remix)

Munk - Kick Out The Chairs (Tomboy Remix)

WhoMadeWho - TV Friend (Hot Chip Remix)

A couple of other things I found in my dive - a really nice old Jacques Lu Cont remix, and some stuff by Golden Bug who, I have to admit, I've never heard of before. The Jacques mix is a beautiful lounge-esque groove with a slightly retro feel and some beautiful sound effects floating round. More laid back than I'm used to hearing from Price, not that it's a bad thing! The Golden Bug track does sound pretty familiar, but then again maybe not. I really like the whispery vocals. The song sits somewhere between disco and electro, not being too heavy on each. A nice balance.

Leroy Hanghofer - Pin (Jacques Lu Cont Remix)

Golden Bug - Bisco

Just for the sake of it, here are a couple more WhoMadeWho and Munk tunes. The Munk remix sounds to me a bit DFA with some poppy vocals thrown in. Really hot funky shit. And I found it too hard to resist posting another back-in-the-day tune from Mashed Two; WMW's supercool cover of Mr. Oizo's Flat Beat. The bassline is just perfectly cool. Myum.

Michael Fakesch - Soda (Munk Remix)

WhoMadeWho - Flat Beat

Cmon there must be SOMEONE with some gig hookups somewhere in South America? Eeeeeeemail me please!! :)