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New chunes

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MOODYMANN – Black Mahogani II: The Pitch Black City Collection (PEACEFROG)
-Glad I waited for the price to drop on this b/c I always wanted it but couldn’t justify the original price tag. Now £8 from Interstellar. Result

MOODYMANN feat ROBERTA SWEED – How Sweed it is (KDJ)
-Prolly my favourite Moodymann vocalist

B12 – Slope (B12 RECORDS)
-This is the new one

REDCELL – Practopia (B12 RECORDS)
-This is the old, unreleased one

SANTONIO – Phathom of Techno (CYREN)
-Apparently missed this when it came out. Homily is the cut

J’DAVID – Long Time Comin’ (MADD CHAISE INC)
-Oliver Who remix sounding nice, via Interstellar clearance

PATRICE SCOTT – Atmospheric Emotions (SISTRUM RECORDINGS)
PATRICE SCOTT – Beyond Deep (SISTRUM RECORDINGS)
KSOUL & RAH/KEITH WORTHY/PATRICE SCOTT – Undeground Anthems EP (Sistrum US)
-I’ve been sleeping on this dude. Exactly the kind of house music I’m looking for at the moment

DJ JUS-ED – 1st Unity Kolabo EP (UNDERGROUND QUALITY)
-Nice Jus-Ed collaborations, one with that FXHE dude

KEITH WORTHY aka WORTHY IS DEEP – Emotional Content (AESTHETIC AUDIO)
-A producer who’s records sound like what he plays. Always loved his sets when I caught him at DEMF. This captures some of that. Passed on the second one. Sounds a bit sloppy to my ears

AROY DEE – Lies (M>O>S)
-Mental

DIMLITE – This Is Embracing (Sonar Kollektiv Germany)
-Slept on this one. Sounds like a worthy follow-up to Runbox Weathers, one of my favourite instrumental hip hop (I guess) releases so far this decade

KARMA – Beach Towel (Compost Germany)
-I:Cube and Pascal Schafer remixes. Can’t go wrong

VARIOUS – Box Of Dub: Dubstep & Future Dub (Soul Jazz)
-Not really in to this dubstep thing, but this sounds particularly… dubby, which wins points in my book

ANDY STOTT – The Massacre EP (Modern Love)
-Haven’t been totally in to this guy so far, but this is some mental business. Really slow, exceedingly dark A side with a fast dub/Detroit techno workout on the flip

LOGIC – Blues For You (Strictly Rhythm UK)
LOGIC – The Final Frontier (Strictly Rhythm UK)
REDSHAPE – Steam (DELSIN)
D5 – Future Sense EP (Delsin Holland)
BURIAL – Burial (Hyperdub)
G MAN – Quo Vadis (Styrax Leaves Germany)
BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET/.XTRAK – Seventh City Classics Vol 1 (SEVENTH CITY)
-Reissues, lateness and ting. Glad I waited on the Burial for the wax though

Gigs, Mixes

Tracklist from Sud

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Recoil – Stone [Mute]
Doctor Rockit – Café de Flore [Lifelike]
Dave Aju – Xibalbanasazi [Circus Company]
Laszlo Beckett – Keep Counting [Hand on the Plow]
Second Life feat. Jimmie Wilson – Inner Love {Give It Up) (Black Keys Rework) [Running Back]
Terre Thaemlitz presents Chugga – Theme for the Buck Rogers Light Rope Dance (Deep Space Probe Remix) [Mule Electronic]
Chez Damier – Warfare [Trackmode]
Omar S. – U [Subgroundz]
Gemini – Klonopin [Relief]
Aardvark – Cult Copy (Dexter’d Dikke Cult Copy mix) [Rush Hour]
Brian Harris – Chemistry [Chicago Underground]
Tha Poke – Uncommon Sense [Iridite]
Kit Clayton – W-Shape [Parallel]
Depeche Mode – Told You So [Mute]
Robert Babicz – The Cloudpainter [Out of Orbit]
Sven Weisemann – Slices [Liebe Detail]
Substance & Vainquer – Reverberation [Scion Versions]
Deep Chord – Electromagnetic Dowsing (The Final Step) [Synth]
Sven Weisemann – Aequittal [Styrax Leaves]
I:Cube – Un Proton Pour Toi, Un Neutron Pour Moi [Versatile]
Redshape – Pain [Styrax Leaves]
Jacek Sienkiewicz – Breath [Recognition]
Ray Valioso – Keep It [Real Soon]
Dan Curtin – Executive Order 12333 [Metamorphic]

Link one more time:

Gigs, Mixes

Pretty much what I played at Sud

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I recorded some practice before Sud last Saturday. Since the set didn’t get recorded and there were a few conflicts on the night I figured I ‘d post that up, warts n’ all. It’s 95% the same as what got played. Records are packed up at the moment, but the tracklist goes something like this:

/mixes/TristanWatkins_AlmostSud_31-03-07.mp3

Recoil
Doctor Rockit
Dave Aju
Laszlo Beckett
Second Life
Terre Thaemlitz
Chez Damier
Omar-S
Gemini
Aardvark
Brian Harris
Tha Poke
Kit Clayton
Depeche Mode
Robert Babicz
Sven Weisemann
Substance & Vainquer
Deep Chord
Sven Weisemann
I:Cube
Redshape
Jacek Sienkiewicz
Ray Valioso
Dan Curtin

New/Reviews

New records

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Dave Aju : The Table Turns (Circus Company France)
-First of a few tips from Dave To the Bone

Laszlo Beckett : Plowtrax Volume 1 (Hand On The Plow)
-Convinced by the last track. Sounds nice.

Further Details : Volume One (Real Soon)
-First Real Soon record. Decided to take a chance on it even though the clips didn’t 100% convince me

Marcellus Pittman : M Pittman EP (FXHE US)
-Completing the Pittman collection (I think)

Deep Chord : Electro Magnetic Dowsing (Synth US)
-Pretty sure I prefer this to the remixes

Theo Parrish feat Jerry the Cat / Yamini Nayar : Children Of The Drums (Sound Signature US)
-Where’s the album?

Substance/Vainquer : Surface (Scion Versions Germany)
-Ummed and ahhed about this for a while and finally told myself to stop being a div

Ray Valioso : Einladung EP (Real Soon)
-Real Soon veering more towards the techno end of things. Sounds good

Aardvarck : Cult Copy Remixes Part 1/2 (Rushhour Holland)
-Another Dave recommendation, for the 2000 and One remix, which is fairly massive

Oracy : Mind Dance (Mojuba Germany)
-Another Dave tip

Arne Weinberg / Ian Pooley /Sean Deason /As One : In Loving Memory 1:4 (Styrax Germany)
-The Pooley, Deason and the second Weinberg track all sound pretty good from the clips

David Hausdorf / Octal Industries /Redshape : 7th Bouquet (Styrax Leaves Germany)
-Again, all three winners. Styrax is pretty much unstoppable at the moment

New/Reviews

Inadvertently bought some new tunes today

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Dan Curtin : Synaptic EP (Klang Electronik Germany) – in a fairly restrained mode
Kai Alce : Corner Manuvers (Real Soon US) – missed this last Summer
Juju & Jordash : Blue Plates (Real Soon US) – slow and groovy. It’s the track at around 13 minutes in on the Paul Hammond mix on Sonic Sunset this week
San Proper / Steven de Pleven : Proper’s Amsterdam Family Series Part 1 (Rushhour Holland) – more crazy Detroit-inflected house business
San Proper / Tom Trago : Proper’s Amsterdam Family Series (Part 2) (Rushhour Holland)
Matthias Meyer / Sven Weisemann : Voltage (Liebe Detail Germany) – the Sven Weisemann is beautiful. Late, I know
Sven Weisemann : Vivid Memento (Styrax Leaves Germany) – Ditto on this. All four tracks are sounding pretty tight from the clips
Tony Allen : Ole (Honest Jon’s) – for the Moritz Von Oswald remix, which sounds fairly dope based on the clip

And I got these from a friend at the weekend:

Doctor Rockit – Indoor Fireworks (Lifelike)
Heidelberg Project feat. Bill Beaver – Searching (Dis House)
Heidelberg Project feat. Bill Beaver – Same Old Shit Different Day (Dis House)
The Matthew Herbert Big Band – The Process, The Parts, The Many And The Few (Accidental)
Titonton Duvante & John Tejada – Freaky Deaky EP (Residual)

New/Reviews

Payday Pt. II

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Just furthered my ongoing replace-stolen-CDs-with-wax project a bit:

Dave Angel – In Flight Entertainment EP [Blunted]
Born Under A Rhyming Planet – Analogue Heaven [Plus 8]
Richard Bartz – Sci-Fi [Disko B]
Depeche Mode – Construction Time Again [Mute]
Thomas Fehlmann – Flow EP [R&S]

…and a couple of bits these sellers had in stock:

Gemini – Le Fusion [Cajual]
Elegia – Basic [F Comm]

…and this one, from my friend Rory‘s recent mix, for Budapest By Blimp. Tune.

Thomas Dolby – Airhead

New/Reviews

Payday!

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Robert Babicz : Mister Head (K2/Kompakt Germany) – for Sondag, which Nick Craddock featured in one of his mixes a while back, and I’ve only just been able to track down

Robert Babicz : The Cloudpainter EP (Out Of Orbit Denmark) – more from him. Three solid tracks

Jus Ed : Small Oak (Underground Quality US) – for the first track. It’s hot

Jenifa Mayanja : Time Waits For No One (remixes) – From Stream Of Consciousness CD (Underground Quality US) – also for the first track. Also hot

New World Aquarium : Twenty EP (Delsin Holland) – Five new tracks. Picking up where he left off

Non Stop DJs : Retarded EP (Non Stop Recordings) – My North London boys doing Ghetto Tech proper like. This is sounding really tight

Jacek Sienkiewicz : Narrative (Recognition Poland) – a reissue. The last track is the one

Terre Thaemelitz : You? Again? (Mule Electronic Japan) – late 90s Thaemelitz house wares repressed on Mule Electronic last year. Seriously deep

Terre Thaemelitz : You? Again? Vol 3 (Mule Electronic Japan) – same

New/Reviews

Hydrology Plus 1 + 2

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Had a bit of moolah in ye olde paypal reserves as a result of selling a few items via my Discogs page and eBay in recent months, so I repurchased Alan Wilder’s first two solo records as Recoil, 1+2 circa ’86 and Hydrology circa ’87. I used to own the CD which compiles these two records, but I believe it was one of the victims of the 2001 car thefts. At any rate, I now own it again for the first time on wax.

So who is this Alan Wilder you ask? He be the man that replaced Vince Clarke in Depeche Mode after Speak & Spell, then left in 1995, sometime around Dave Gahan’s heroin addiction by my faulty memory. To situate the music, you need first think of Black Celebration and Music For the Masses era Depeche Mode, without the singing, with a bunch of disparate vocals, from indigenous peoples to operatic shit. There are five tracks across the two records, ranging in length from 14 to almost 19 minutes, save the first track which clocks in at 7:43. Within these lengths he builds up some serious density, and roves a fair amount, often incorporating a few movements.

The result is totally coherent, and these were landmark works for their time. In my mind, nothing much approached this level of coherence, complexity and artistry in electronic music then. This was before Detroit Techno as we know it today – contemporary with its beginnings. It had little to do with it and less to do with Chicago house. It was its own electronic beast. I guess its most common style would have to be ambient stuff a la Eno and maybe Tangerine Dream, and I certainly hear some Reich in there.

That “Love on a Fast Train” track from Risky Business (which also accompanies the youngest boy in The Squid & the Whale) that I posted my surprise about a while ago is maybe fairly comparable. Maybe it sounds most like Global Communication’s 76:14 album (on which Maiden Voyage is the interpolation of Love on a Fast Train), but eight years earlier, and probably the superior work given how well it holds up 20 years down the line. I listened to this album hundreds of times in the 90s and never tired of it. I can’t recall the last time I listened to all of 76:14 straight through. Having it again now is a treat. If you’ve never heard it and love that middle era Depeche Mode like I do, definitely give it a go.

Gigs

Next gig SPAM: Sud records 10th release party, with Portable and Cassy

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We will be celebrating our 10th release with a very special party on the 31st of March ; our first party for 2007 , so not to be missed !

We are so so thrilled that Cassy will be joining us & helping us celebrate this release .

Catherine Britton aka Cassy, left England for Austria with her Caribbean father and Austrian mother in 1975.
She spent her childhood in Vienna and Lower Austria, starting to sing and study music at an early age. What happenned since has been nothing short of phenominal .

Cassy has become the toast of the electronic world . It’s no surprise really , with the kind of credentials , she holds .

She has collaborated with some of the most influential artists in Techno . Namely Ricardo Villalobos , Luciano , Steve Bug e.t.c. & holds a residency at the highly regarded , Panorama Bar , in Berlin ; & can sometimes be found working behind the counter @ Hardwax ; Berlin’s legendary record shop .

Her solo projects are worth a look in as well as they are rather good . ‘ My Auntie ‘ her solo debut on Perlon , is a personal favourite . She has also recently started , her own label , simply called , Cassy . If the 1st release on this label is any thing to go by , then expect some killer future releases .

What has trully lifted her profile , though is her mix Cd for Panorama Bar . The first for the club & artist alike . Titled ‘Panorama Bar 01 ‘ . This is a journey into the deeper side of Techno & House . No computer gimmicks , just the mixer , 2 decks & a great selection of tracks . This is most definitely one of the best mix cd’s of 2006 . An essential purchase indeed ! .

Anyone who has spent some time on Panorama Bar’s dancefloor during one of Cassy’s sets has witnessed what special kind of atmosphere and energy she manages to create with her House-Sound. When Cassy is behind the decks, sitting around or hanging at the bar never really is an option, as it is rather probable everyone finds themselves dancing. Her very own way of fusing deep, minimal and sexy records is highly exceptional and it creates a very intoxicating, special groove. Do not miss !

Cassy will be joined by Portable , who will be performing tracks from his forthcoming album , out on Sud , May / June .

Completing the bill will be our residents , Lakuti , Marco Shuttle , Nick Craddock , Special guests Stefano & newbie to Sud , Tristan Watkins aka Phonopsia .

I have been listening to Tristan’s mixes for quite some time now & they are great & i for one am looking forward to his Sud debut .

After the great visual display from Squint in December , he will be back again with Brittski .

We will be back @ the Rhythm Factory …16 – 18 Whitechapel Road , London E1 1EW .

10 pm – 6 am with a new & improved sound in Room 1 .

As usual , book your place on the £8 list by emailing :

[email protected]

otherwise it’s £10 on the door .

Cassy’s discography

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Cassy

Body Code @ Myspace

www.myspace.com/bodycodemusic

Looking forward to seeing you all !

Lerato / Lakuti

Kit

Busy weekend

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Much ado in Saint Reatham this weekend gone. Must pack this in quickly and catch up on sleep.

Friday evening my new mixing console was delivered right after work. It’s a Soundcraft Spirit ES, which is a 10 stereo channel, 4 mono mixer, which is a rather unique configuration, but perfect to my needs, as I have/use more stereo devices than most people do. The mixer was recently taken out of production, so I had to do some serious hunting. I’m fairly certain I got the very last new one in the UK.

For the last month I’ve been struggling to get the new kit up and running together through my Allen Heath Xone:32, which is only a 3-channel DJ mixer, and I’d totally run out of space on my desk. The new keyboard was hanging out back on top of the turntables, and there was absolutely no space for a 21″ wide mixer on the desk. Basically I had to do a full-scale rearrangement, which has taken me almost all weekend, but all is done now!

Half-way through I convinced myself I would need to buy a new computer desk because I so fully filled my old one (which is fairly massive) with the musical kit, but I’ve managed to get around that and fit everything into a really compact space via the purchase of four new shelves for my Ikea Jerker. Now everything is within reach, all the cables are neatly twist-tied, and I even got the computer set up so that it tucks away while not in use (the whole aim of this reversion to hardware is to use the puter less). Most importantly I can use all my kit at once and the mixer sound dope. I even got the monitors/sub into a sweeter position today. After a few minutes of fooling around with it all for a bit today, I’m most pleased. I feel like I accomplished a lot this weekend. Anyway… have a gander.

Last night, before figuring out what to do with the computer

Now, with the computer added

Now, with the computer tucked away

We also officially kicked off the house hunt on Saturday. More news on that as things transpire.