Author: nickroffey1983

Crosstown Rebels – Rebel Rave Vol.4 with Mathew Styles

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Crosstown Rebels has been one of the best success stories in electronic music over the last 5/6 years. TBC have been fans of Damian Lazarus since his early Futurism CD collections Vol. 1&2 and his amazing Bugged Out Suck My Deck compilation from the mid noughties which helped him develop his label to one of the best, bringing us artists such as Maceo Plex, Mathew Jonson, Jamie Jones, Amirali, Infinity Ink, Ida Engberg and Acid Pauli to name but a few (trust me there are lots and lots). The Rebel Rave compilations first surfaced in 2010 when Crosstown Rebels began to take over the club scene and the music became the soundtrack to your weekend.  Whether you were in the club at one of their nights, at another club night where DJs all wanted to play Crosstown Rebels tracks or you were sat at home with the CD blaring on your own audio set up, Crosstown Rebels were blowing up big! The series also contain a bonus mix CD which is a nice touch and have become a signature to the series structure with Clive Henry, Droog and Subb-An chipping in for volume’s 1 to 3 respectively.

The latest offering in the Rebel Rave series comes out on 6th April which follows the same format, a three disc boxset with the 3rd disc being a mix from Matthew Styles. We have only been able to listen to the 3rd disc but this has been a real treat (see track list below highlighted in bold) as we haven’t heard much of Matthew since his early Get Lost compilation in 2006 with Damian Lazarus (also on Crosstown Rebels). The mix has a tech house feel with an uplifting, funky sounding grooves and a tribal edge. It verges towards heavier techno sounds at points with Ida Engberg,Freaks and Raw District feat. Ellipsis. Mathew Jonson’s new track In The Stars finishes the mix with an epic 8 minute uplifting progressive track. The stand out tracks are TEED & Eats Everything – Lion, No Lion (Gerd Sub Tech Mix), Canvas – The Cat, The Royal We – Party Guilt (Matthew Styles Remix), Ida Engberg – Devil Dance (Mr. G NY Dub) and Mathew Jonson – In The Stars.

Our final verdict is that this release looks very promising, see the tracklist below, as there is a great deal on offer from deep house to techno with some great styles in between from a typically diverse collection of artists. It is great to see Matthew Styles back with a bang as this mix is one of the best in the Rebel Rave series, the music shifts over the 68 minutes to show off his own style nicely. We can’t wait to get our hands on the full release and keep our Crosstown Rebels collection up to date.

Thanks for reading

TBC

CD 1
01. Francesca Lombardo – What To Do (Matrixxman Remix)
02. Amirali – Melancholia (Deetron Unreleased Club Mix)
03. Kele Okereke – Heartbreaker (Recondite Amati Mix)
04. Subb-an featuring S.Y.F. – Say No More
05. Ida Engberg – Devil Dance (Adam Beyer Remix)
06. Him_Self_Her featuring Kieran Fowkes – Love Me Like I Used To (Francesca Lombardo Remix)
07. Mathew Jonson – Body in Motion (Akufen Remix)
08. Jamie Jones & Luca C – Tonight In Tokyo (Cassius Remix)
09. Azimute – Always
10. Russ Yallop featuring Aimee Sophia – The Journey
11. Pezzner & Amina – Exit

CD2
01. jozif featuring Little Bear – The 508
02. Him_Self_Her featuring Kieran Fowkes – Gone Too Long
03. Ali Love featuring Kali – Emperor (Maceo Plex Last Disco Remix)
04. Psychemagik – Black Noir Schwarz (Mineo Remix)
05. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs & Eats Everything – Lion, The Lion (Gerd´s Deep Dub)
06. Fur Coat – U Turn
07. Kele Okerkeke – Candy Flip
08. Luca Cazal & Mark Jenkyns – Bullfrog
09. Mathew Jonson – Kissing Your Eyes (Tale Of Us Remix)
10. Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons – Lover Eyes (Dixon Re-Edit)
11. Subb-an featuring The Million Plan – Vapour Trails (Matthew Herbert Remix)

CD3 – Matthew Styles Rebel Rave Mix 
01. Latex – The Porcupine 
02. Dyed Soundorom featuring Aaron Carl – Naked 
03. Jamie Jones featuring Ost & Kjex – Summertime (No Ears Mix) 
04. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs & Eats Everything – Lion, The Lion (Gerd Sub Tech Mix) 
05. Presslaboys – Electric Generation (No Ears Dub) 
06. Canvas – The Cat 
07. Peace Division featuring Pleasant Gehman – Voodoo (It’s In The Wall) 
08. The Royal We – Party Guilt (Matthew Styles Remix) 
09. Freaks – UMAKENOSENSE (Radio Slave MFF Mix) 
10. Ida Engberg – Devil Dance (Mr. G NY Dub) 
11. Raw District featuring Ellipsis – Ragged Star (Josh Wink Rethink 1) 
12. Ali Love – Another (Tuff City Kids Remix) 
13. Glimmer Twins v’s Ray Mang – UFO Is Coming 
14. Dyed Soundorom featuring Aaron Carl – Naked (Stripped Mix) 
15. Matthew Jonson – In The Stars 

 

TBC Playlist December 2014

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Kompakt Vol.14 – Various Artists (2014)
Balance Vol.25 – Danny Tenaglia (2014)
Balance 26 – Hernan Cattaneo (2014)
Panorama Bar Vol.6 – Ryan Elliot (2014)
Get Lost VII – Craig Richards (2014)
Stil Vor Talent Berlin – Schlesisches Tor – Various Artists (2014)
Fabric Live 77 – Erol Alkan (2014)
Rainbow Disco Club – Prins Thomas (2014)
BBC Essential Mix – Anja Schneider (2014)
I Love Techno 2014 – Brodinski (2014)
Defected Pres. House Masters –  Masters At Work (MAW – 2014)
BBC Essential Mix – Bicep (2014)
Watergate Vol.17 – Pan Pot (2014)
Get Physical 12th Birthday at Watergate Live Set – Dj Hell (2014)
Play 05 Vienna – Oliver Huntemann (2014)
Abaporu – Gui Boratto (2014)
Nobody Knows – Joris Voorn (2014)
Reincarnations Vol.2 – DJ Koze (2014)
Reverse Proceed – Slam (2014)
Blurred – Huxley (2014)
Satellite – Sam Paganini (2014)
Tropical Autumn A Laid Back Mix of Modern Sad Beach Disco  – DJ Supermarkt (2014)
Monoliths – Dustin Zahn (2014)
Acid Thunder More Definitive Original Acids and Deep House 1985-1991 – Terry Farley (2014)
BBC Essential Mix – Steffi  (2014)
Weekends & Beginnings – Mister Saturday Night (2014)
The Inevitable End – Royksopp (2014)
BBC Essential Mix – Huxley (2014)
BBC Essential Mix – Jon Hopkins (2014)
FACT Magazine Podcast November – Ben Klock (2014)
RA Podcast #368 – Marco Shuttle (2014)
Zone 18 Love/Kraft Pt.2 – The Hacker (2014)
Future Disco Pres. All Day Dancing – Various Artists (2014)
Long Play – Paco Osuna (2014)
Slowly Exploding 10 years of Perc Trax 2004 – 2014 – Perc (2014)
Chapters of Green Velvet Collection – Green Velvet (2014)
Annie Mac pres. 2014 – Various Artists (2014)
Balance Pres. – Kolsch (2014)
Cocoon Pres. Sound of the Season 15 – Sven Vath (2014)
Beats in Space 15th Anniversary -Tim Sweeney (2014)
Elaste Vol. 4 Meta-Disco and Proto-House – Various Artists (2014)
XLR8R Podcast #371 –  Floorplan (2014)
BBC Essential Mix – Joy Orbison (2014)
BBC Essential Mix – Caribou (2014)
Verbalizer – Anthony Rother (2014) *
10 Years of Systematic – Various Artists (2014)
Content – Ralph Lawson (2014)
Sankeys 20th Anniversary – Darius Syrossian (2014)
 
Classics
Times – David August  (2013)
RA Podcast #115 – Patrice Baumel  (2008)
11 Years Cocoon Recordings Selected Remixes and Retrospective Mix – Patrick Kunkel (2011)
CLR Reconnected 02 -DJ Emerson (2012)
CLR Reconnected 01 – Monoloc (2012)
 
 Intro
 Good Day TBC followers we are now bringing you articles thick and fast to make up for our slow end to 2014 and slow start to 2015, we hope you can keep up. This time round it is the return of the regular TBC playlist slot and as the last instalment was published in September we have some catching up to do. We will also follow this article with our pick of 2014 which to be honest has been a great year for electronic music and TBC.
 
Since September there has been a huge tranche of album, compilation and podcast/radio show releases which simply overwhelmed us at TBC. As you can see from the playlist above we have been struggling to keep up with the sheer quantity while ensuring that we sniff out the new releases, listen to them and capture the best ones for this article. It is also worth noting that due to the BBC Essential Mix overload that we had in December (see our article https://technobreakfastclub.co.uk/2014/12/12/tbc-review-bbc-essential-mix-of-the-year-2014/) where we had a lot of commitment to these mixes, dedicating some serious time to the 2 hour mixes along with repeat listens to enable us to review and choose our favourite, we have been playing catch up ever since! Almost immediately after publishing our last article we had the new Balance from Danny Tenaglia to enjoy along with an almost forgotten (we missed it in the last playlist article) Panorama Bar mix from Ryan Elliot in its new free download guise from the Panorama Bar website. There are also a couple of record label compilations from some of our favourite labels; Kompakt, Systematic, Perc Trax, Still Vor Talent and Cocoon along with some great new production albums from some of our favourite producers and DJs from the last few years Anthony Rother, Slam, Joris Voorn, DJ Koze and Gui Boratto. There were also some newer artists; Sam Paganini on Drumcode, Huxley, Paco Asuna, Dustin Zahn and David August plus some curveballs for TBC which includes Annie Mac, Tim Sweeney’s amazing Beats in Space Anniversary CD, a Sankeys anniversary release from Darius Syrossian and Royksopp’s last ever album The Inevitable End. Please note that the BBC Essential Mixes and Mister Saturday Night’s Weekends and Beginnings will not feature in the shortlist below as they have been reviewed in a previous article, they may well feature in the ‘Best of 2014’ article however. It is clear to see from the names mentioned above that we have been spoiled over the last few months at TBC HQ. We have enjoyed listening to the releases above on our travels over Xmas and partying over the festive period.
 
We will be keeping the same format as normal with a selection of our favourite releases that will be highlighted above for easy identification and reviewed along with our selection of the best release for this playlist selection. This will also provide the last of our selections for 2014 and the shortlist will be put forward for the Best of 2014 article to follow.
 
Balance Vol.25 – Danny Tenaglia (2014)
Having first heard about Danny Tenaglia at the end of the 1990’s when he released his Global Underground Athens compilation (around this time is when I first got into listening to electronic music) this latest edition of the Balance series is somewhat of a treat for myself and a great addition to the series. Danny Tenaglia is a dance music legend, he has held residencies at the most famous clubs including Twilo in New York, toured the world playing to the masses and released a number of critically acclaimed tracks, albums and compilations without over saturating the market with quantity over quality. TBC have been fans for sometime and some of our favourite classics tracks and mixes are by Danny Tenaglia which include his most famous production track Music is the Answer and the compilations Back to Basics 10th Anniversary, Global Underground Athens and London, Choice a Collection of Classics and Futurism.
 
You could say we were excited when we heard Danny Tenaglia was adding to the Balance series with volume 25 but as you can deduce from the introduction above that would be an understatement. The mix is spread over 2 discs and it doesn’t fail to live up to expectation or to the hype that we placed upon it. Disc one starts with the signature Tenaglia sound, a tribal beat which builds with a great hypnotic groove, bass and percussion through tracks from 04LM, Ugo Carrano, Reboot, Talismann and Cowboy Rhythmbox. By the time he gets to Alpha Phase’s Dirtro II and MRI’s ES Geht Um Mehr the speakers start to grumble and the techno picks up pace. It builds and progresses and soon turns into a techno stormer mix peaking with Nicole Moudaber’s Movin’ On which is a truly epic thunderous bass filled track. The Basement Jaxx track was a surprise inclusion but the Michel Cleis remix of Mermaid of Salinas is superb tribal techno, perfect for the last leg of disc one. I’ll Do You by Thomas Schumacher starts to bring the disc to a close with a dubby, electro, vocal track which is a typical Schumacher track, well produced and in an alternative style without being difficult to include in this type of mix. Dadub’s Existence (Kangding Ray remix – one of TBC’s favourite techno producers) leaves you ready for more with a heavy, tribal techno track while suitably closing the first CD.
 
You may think that like other compilation CDs (and other editions of the Balance series) that disc two may go for a different direction, maybe chillout, experimental or eclectic but not Danny Tenaglia. It sets off where disc one ended with straight up techno, Danny obviously didn’t get the memo. Architectural’s opening track 04.1 is overlapped with Funkndy’s Station and has a quirky speak and spell vocal coupled with a banging techno bassline, if disc one left you wanting more then you didn’t have to wait long. This disc is definitely a step up from the first, the techno pounds courtesy of Regis, The Yellowheads and Antigone as Mr.Tenaglia seems to be preparing a Berghain audition CD to promote his new heavier angle. You can imagine at this stage TBC HQ was rocking as this CD epitomises our love for techno. We are introduced to a raft of new producers and artists across disc two but the quality and relentless techno is maintained. There are parts where you are treated to a nice euphoric blissed out piece of electronica like in Dax J’s Dreamscape (aptly named) but it is no surprise when the bass kicks back in, these little interludes and changes of style are signs of a very experienced club DJ who knows how to make a set flow. Midway through the disc Gregor Tresher’s Nightcolours is another nice tempo change, an uplifting tech-house track with a catchy electro key melody in the background. The latter half of disc two does see the one and only criticism of the mix as the direction and flow does seem to become erratic with the track selection becoming more diverse and quite difficult to follow which does affect your enjoyment. The techno is maintained but at the cost of the flow which is a shame when the previous disc and a half was flawless. It has to be said the final track UFO by Exploit is a serious track, fast pace, quirky alien/space sounds, a nice breakdown and a haunting feeling throughout, played loud it is excellent. Despite the strange ending to disc two this mix remains an excellent addition to the Balance series and a TBC favourite (not one for our neighbours though!).
 
Watergate Vol.17 – Pan Pot (2014)
Watergate has been a big player in the CD catalogue series representing the sounds of their amazing club by the Spree in Berlin. The series has included mixes by Ellen Allien, Tiefschwarz, Kerri Chandler (previously reviewed in our Playlist articles) and Solomun. They have managed to harness the sounds from the DJs selected, who are normally residents at the club at a given time, perfectly and this has meant the series continues into its 17th edition. This outing we were excited to see Pan Pot chipping in and finally being asked to grace the CD series as they have been long standing residents at the club and have provided many a great nights entertainment for TBC when we have been on our travels. The Pan Pot sound has changed over the years and as they have developed they have become harder in style pushing into the techno genre more and more, which of course has pleased us no end. This Watergate CD has come at a perfect time for Pan Pot who seem to be on the crest of a wave, releasing consistent production gems and their recent Mobilee Back to Back compilation was a superb addition to their back catalogue.
 
This mix is excellent from the start with tracks from Radio Slave Don’t Stop No Sleep and Shall Ocin’s Lurking Wolves to get you hooked and transfixed from the start. The energy level builds, the bass gets harder and the sounds more evil. Lurking Wolves is a particular highlight as this is a straight up club stormer with evil sounding synth stabs and a marching bass line, what you would expect from a Mathew Jonson or Maceo Plex number. The mix moves on and cranks up the techno and bass with tracks from Whyt Noize and Mark Broom, the latter titled Nucleus is an evil building track which sounds excellent loud with a number of effects, sounds and samples thrown in by the ever impressive Mr.Broom. We are then treated to the first of Pan Pot’s fine production pieces that feature in this mix titled Substance which is an electro techno stormer that we would expect from Anthony Rother, punchy synth noises build and tease to create a sinister atmosphere on this track. In keeping with the style of some of the earlier tracks it is no surprise that Maceo Plex’s Conjure Bass is featured just after the half way point of the mix. This track is one of many of the amazing production line that Maceo Plex has, he manages to churn out superb electro techno tracks for fun and Conjure Bass is up there with his best pieces of work. It has had some serious airtime as its transcends techno, house and the more urban style DJs and is one of the more mainstream tracks included by Pan Pot. When you hear it you will understand why – the bass, its progression, the squelches, the hand claps and its evil synth keys contribute to yet another Maceo Plex masterpiece. See you down the front for this one with the Watergate LED ceiling going crazy above you. The mix ends with a consecutive run of amazing tracks; Josh Winks now retro Are You There which has been rejuvenated by Ben Klock, Martin Eyerer’s Reckless and two superb Pan Pot collaborations with Slam and Vincenzo, Conductor and Fiction Inc. respectively. What an end to a super new addition to the Watergate series and a must have for any techno, Pan Pot or Watergate fan.
 
Balance Pres. – Kolsch (2014)
The Balance Presents series has been around for a few years now and has been an interesting addition to the normal Balance series release. Originally with the Presents Electric series which was a more leftfield electronic club series (one of the best was from Agent 86) and later the more DJ orientated releases from Jozif and Guy J – both are excellent. The single disc format means that the DJ only has 70/80 minutes to present their skills and sounds which has seen the series consistently deliver providing a peak time representation of the DJ’s style and music selection. In regards to the Kolsch addition of the Balance series we were excited at TBC to see one of our favourite DJs added to the catalogue and if you have seen him live this CD is a great representation of his live DJ sets. Energetic, progressive, euphoric and tough in places, there are lots of melodies and vocals thrown in for good measure keeping the mix diverse and balanced. If you haven’t been able to see Kolsch then this CD is a great starting point but be warned you will want to see him live once you have heard this.
 
The mix itself really kicks off when Its All Over by Pional (John Talabot remix) graces the speakers, this track is epic. When John Talbot is involved it usually means gold and this is excellent. It then descends into a few crazy techno tracks which were right up TBC’s street albeit a slight surprise so early on by Kolsch to drop these bombs. Track 3 is called Freeze by Danny Daze and this is followed by Patrice Baumel’s  Mile High Gang. You are then allowed to relax with the almighty Radiohead Videotape which is just beautiful before the CD gets into the groove with the more traditional Kolsch sound. His Punchbuggy track, Adrian Hour’s Chordgresion and the euphoric Odd Parents Learn to Fly (Maceo Plex Flight Home Remix) sum up the Kolsch sound perfectly. Kenny Larkin chips in with Plankton which helps to bring the mix down in tempo and is a nice broken up, blissed out house track. The Anthemic Caribou track Cant Do Without You (Tale of Us & Mano Le Tough Remix), which is similar in style to the Odd Parents track earlier, is then brought in for a great festival anthem moment. Even the concerning inclusion of a Coldplay track which has been remixed by Kolsch works well within the mix and suits the Kolsch style. All in all this is a great new addition to the Balance series and another great release from Kolsch. We have enjoyed this CD many times at TBC HQ since its release.
 
Verbalizer – Anthony Rother (2014)
When TBC discovered Anthony Rother’s label Datapunk and the incredible series We Are Punks we became instant mega fans of his. This series is the foundation for electro techno. Bodzin, Huntemann, Romboy, DJ Hell, Kiko, Billy Nasty and Anthony Rother all feature on the first compilation with production work that will blow your mind. The series became a collection with vol.2 and 3 being released with equally amazing content. Having discovered this series we delved deeper into his production work and his back catalogue is impressive, presenting an electro pioneer with experimental, techno, poppy infused electro which peaked with Popkiller, his most famous album. This isn’t to say there aren’t other gems; My Name is Beuys Von Telekraft is epic, his Fuse compilation is also amazing and This Is Electro (1997 – 2005) live album is stunning, including a live DVD set from Fuse in Belgium. His last few release were more of a chilled electronica affair and we were worried that the big hitting Anthony Rother may have disappeared but boy were we wrong. Verbalizer is Mr.Rother’s rebirth, this album is an exemplary piece of production. Start the album and listen from start to finish and you get the sense that he produced the album as a liveset, it flows perfectly from electro stormer to electro stormer. There are a few tracks that change up the pace of the album but they work so well you are please he has placed them where he has.
 
The album starts with Next which seems like a sound levels check with electronic sounding effects as he sets up his production kit ready to unleash his new monster productions. When Syncope kicks in you first get an idea of where this new album is going and you can’t help but smile and have a little dance. This track has a great pace, builds and builds with an infectious beat and then unleashes a grumbling monster electro techno bassline that harks back to the We Are Punks heyday. Zigby is not as intense but it has that Rother feel with its haunting electro sounds and goes at a nice pace to progress the album. Fire Viber cranks it up a notch and sounds similar to the Bodzin and Huntemann tracks of old with a nice Rother edge, sticking with the haunting electro style but picking up the pace and the bass levels creating a feeling of tension (which emphasises the haunting style). Invader descends to a heavier more freaky electro techno vibe with scary acid squelches which sets this track apart from the others. You still feel like you are on a journey through the electro world of Anthony Rather. Truthmaker moves the album into a more marching techno beat while still maintaining the same style on the album. This track would sit well in a good pace techno set and with its nice euphoric breakdown, which runs alongside the marching techno beat. It is one of our favourites on the album and one we hope to hear out when clubbing. Monophonia acts as a bridge track between the heavy previous track and the end of the album, the pace is slowed but the crazy electro sounds remain and they ebb and flow throughout the track taking you on a mini journey. Don’t be fooled, this track is by no means a filler or a chillout track but it does help the albums progression. Logical is track 8 and it is another of our favourites, it is a track that you could play at the start of your set as it has a great build up at the beginning but it could equally be played at peak time as the track progression is excellent to entertain the crowd or just yourself and the speakers if you are at home. Buffer Breaker again cranks it up a notch. A futuristic sounding electro monster with great evil synthesiser sounds and space like keys. The breakdown in this track is pure evil, thats all we can say, you need to hear this one. Man From Space ends the album with an uplifting progressive techno track that wraps up Verbalizer perfectly. This album is a must own and we cannot praise it enough, welcome back Anthony Rother. We just hope we can see him again live soon as his performances are like gold dust.
 
Sankeys 20th Anniversary – Darius Syrossian (2014)
This is one of our more leftfield selections for our best of playlist as club night compilations and anniversary albums are not normally anything special and while they provide an addendum to a great night if you were there or a sample of the night to those who were unable to attend they generally do not excel with tune selection or mix quality. This Sankeys album is different though. Having not attended the club for some time but being a big fan of the club since the mid 2000s when TBC frequented the Tribal Sessions nights which at that time were one of the best nights out in the country, we have always been interested in their releases, nights and events. Luckily this led to a great find with Sankeys 20th Anniversary CD mixed and selected by Darius Syrossian. We had not really listened to Darius before but knew him to have a good reputation due to his residency at Viva with Steve Lawler.
 
This compilation is a double disc affair which exhibits a first disc almost solely made up of Darius’s own tracks and productions. He does throw in the odd track by another to spice things up; Green Velvet’s Bigger Than Prince and Todd Terry’s Bounce to the Beat but they are all remixed or edited by Darius. We were more than impressed with this start to the compilation as it both surprised us, introduced us to Darius and got us dancing away at TBC HQ. The style of the mix is house with a chunky but uplifting style, lots of groove and funk is thrown in for good measure to entertain the Sankeys crowd. It would have been great to have been there and experience this set. Well done Darius! The second disc is more like the traditional anniversary CD with all the greatest tracks, some which I experienced at the club back in the day. Thick Dick, Loco Dice, Cobblestone Jazz, Argy, Green Velvet and Gus Gus feature, the latter with a track called David which is an all time classic from back in the day.  The combination of a great production set and a classics set all mixed over two discs is a great concept from Sankeys and it’s a refreshing angle on this type of compilation, One which works so well we have it featured in our shortlist. You won’t be disappointed with this one and its great for a house party.
 
The Verdict 
When it comes to selecting a favourite from above it is clear from the in depth reviews that we felt passionately about each selection and in turn this makes choosing a favourite difficult and probably one of the most difficult for a while. It doesn’t help that we have a production album thrown in with a few great compilations because it is hard to compare and then choose a favourite when the options are so different. Balance have to have a special mention as they have two mixes in the shortlist courtesy of their two streams of mix CDs; the big brother full Balance CD from Danny Tenaglia and the younger sibling Balance Presents series by Kolsch. To have released two great mixes in a short space of time is testament to their artist selection criteria and the series’ heritage. It was difficult to choose but we would have to go with Anthony Rother’s Verbalizer as our favourite. To come back with such an amazing and relentless production album structured in such a way that you feel like you are experiencing a live set is something else, a different level. We hope that you can have a listen to this album and experience his magical production touch.
 
Verbalizer – Anthony Rother (2014) *
 
Thanks for reading, look out for our best of 2014 shortlist soon!
TBC

Promotional Reviews February 2015

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VIVa115_artwork

Happy New Year TBC followers, this is our second and very belated post for 2015. Apologies for the delay but with the festive period, a busy January and a disrupted February we have been unable to publish anything new until now. ‘Quality not quantity’ and ‘patience is a virtue’ are both sayings that come to mind in this time and fear not as we are bringing you a brand new promotional article now and this will be followed shortly by the end of year playlist for 2014 as well as our ‘Best Of’ 2014 article. This coupled with a very active 2015 for new music and you will see a lot of activity over the next month or so.

This article is being brought to you by a one armed, lame TBC writer as I unfortunately fell victim to the icey conditions in Sheffield in January. I slipped and managed to break my shoulder resulting in a long lay off, currently 3 weeks but due to be 4/5 in total, and extended rehab spanning a few months! It wasn’t pretty and I would not wish this injury on anybody. It hasn’t been nice, the pain has been bad and the partial lack of use in my left arm is frustrating. On the positive side I have had plenty of time to listen to music including an array of new promotional material from One Records, Eskimo Recordings, Culprit Records, Hot Creations, International Feel, Crosstown Rebels, Firehouse, Viva Music, Hot Trax, Rebellion and BLDG5 Records. I have also had access to plenty of pain killers to take the edge off so every cloud and all that. I hope you enjoy the article, the structure will be a short review for each of the 13 records and I will then select the TBC top 5 with a favourite which will get some extra write up.

This article has been a joy to write and we have enjoyed listening to the new records from artists such as Subb-An who recently completed his Essential Mix on BBC 1 and two great offerings from one of our favourite labels Eskimo Recordings. Skream also chips in with a new release – he has become an interesting prospect in the house and techno scene since his transition from dubstep. All this plus an array of new artists that have excited and entertained us at TBC HQ over the last few weeks.

Subb-An – Warp (One Records) 

Two great tracks on this EP; Warp and TV. Bass heavy, chunky tech-house with the A-side Warp focusing on a more stripped down groove and bassline while the B-side TV really excelling with its reverberating bassline and haunting vocals from Jacob Phono. This is Subb-An’s first release on the label he co-founded. Great first release and looking forward to the next one already.

Du Tonc – Every Song (Eskimo Recordings)

What you come to expect from Eskimo Recordings; they have such a nose for artists that deliver their signature sounds and with such a timeless quality. Du Tonc provides an uplifting summery pop/disco track with a great male vocal. Reminiscent of an Aeroplane/MGMT track which is testament to how good this track is. The only downside is that this is a single track release only.

Maxxi Soundsystem – Medicine EP feat. Name One (Culprit Records)

Culprit have a great array of artists who have featured over recent years; Lee Curtiss, Adriatique, Shonky, Subb-An and Hot Natured. Droog, a collective of DJ’s, have done a great job in developing their label. Uk based Maxxi Soundystem provides a three track release for Culprit titled the Medicine EP.The tracks sit in a nu-disco, house genre with a great vocal on each track from Name One. The title track is the standout track with wonky disco/electro infused house that accompany the vocal perfectly.

Denney – Pimp Out (Hot Creations) 

This is a two track release from Denney on Hot Creations (always such a busy record label) with Pimp Out. The title track is a catchy, nice paced and infectious house track that verges on G-House with its ghetto feel. There is even time for some acid house samples to leave this track sounding slightly old school-esque. The B-side Low Frequency has a slightly slower pace but where it slows down it adds groove and a superb acid squelch. The vocal is far more ghetto which again leaves this house near the G-House genre. Overall a great release from Denney and we could imagine dancing away to this one at Kater Blau in Berlin.

Satin Jackets – Shine on You (Eskimo Recordings)

As with Du Tonc Every Song, Eskimo Recordings are able to churn out quality disco and house with ease. Satin Jackets are stalwarts for Eskimo featuring on the label for a few years now and Shine On You doesn’t disappoint. This is a 5 track release of Shine On You and remixes: Radio, Original, Mighty Mouse, Ben Macklin Remix & Dub Remix. Ester’s vocals are perfect for this uplifting, summery, emotional and atmospheric pop/disco track. Mighty Mouse chips in with a more energetic and club ready remix while Ben Macklin slows things down to create a remix that oozes disco sophistication.

Double Knots – Double Vision EP (International Feel)

“Imagine Tangerine Dream soundtracking Miami Vice through Todd Terje’s ears” is the summary of this EP on the press release, nuff said. This is a three track release, on International Feel who specialise in the more alternative side to electronic music, from Double Knots. Each track is slow, atmospheric, cosmic disco that seems to come from a film score which is testament to the production quality on offer here. Its hard to pick a favourite but I would say the title track Double Vision mixed by Toby Tobias as it reminds us of a DJ Supermarkt Too Slow To Disco track, lets see those disco fingers!

Skream – Still Lemonade (Crosstown Rebels) 

Crosstown Rebels, as Hot Creations above, continue to churn out quality releases. This time Skream offers his Still Lemonade track with a remix from Redshape on the B-side. Skream’s transition to house and techno from dubstep shows that a quality producer can perform in any genre of music. The original is a progressive techno stormer which builds to an electro infused breakdown. The bassline, drums and synths are epic. The Redshape remix cranks it up a notch and leads the track into a more full on techno track with a thunderous grumbly bass.

https://soundcloud.com/factmag/skream-still-lemonade-redshape-remix

Kim Ann Foxman – Firehouse 002 

The second release on Kim Ann Foxman’s new record label Firehouse and Kim delivers more solid house production as she develops her style since pursuing a solo career outside Hercules & The Love Affair. A 5 track release, Open The House with 2 remixes from Eli Escobar, The Lady is a Vamp and Eye See Me. The Eli Escobar remix is the stand out track as it spices up the house formula to provide an uplifting feel with strong beats, key and percussion. The Lady is a Vamp is a quirky B-side with freak show-esque horror sounds and effects. Eye See Me completes the diverse record with a cosmic, futuristic sounding progressive track with a nice breakdown.

Mark Jenkyns feat. MC Chickaboo – On Me (Hot Creations) 

This is yet another Hot Creation release and another quality one at that. Mark Jenkyns provides us with a 4 track release named On Me which has 3 iterations; original, club tweak and Skream remix plus Like This. The vocal is the standout element to this track courtesy of MC Chickaboo. The Skream remix is the best of the 3, providing a club ready, well produced and polished track remix. The remix builds and develops around the vocal perfectly with an excellent breakdown for the dance floor.

Monday Club – Blackout (VIVa Music) 

Steve Lawler’s record label provides the next release from Monday Club who are Luke May and Paul Sidoli. They have been on the electronic music scene for some time and are a duo of high calibre. Blackout is a 5 track release; Blackout has two mixes (one from the recent on form Luke Solomon), Footprints and Girls Jacking. The theme for this record is ‘Accciieeeed’ and lots of it. Each track features the signature acid house sounds and squelches. Blackout has an old Speak and Spell computer vocal, Footprints is rave with a great male vocal and Girls Jacking is the most party track and does exactly what is says on the tin ‘jack’. Hard to pick a favourite as each is a solid release, the Solomon remix was not his best and doesn’t take Blackout to a new level, shame.

Raumakustik – Raider (Hot Trax)

Hot Trax is a sub-label for Hot Creations to release some tougher techno style tracks and Raumakustik provides Raider with a remix by the head honcho at Hot Creations Jamie Jones. The original is a marching tech-house track with heavy drums and effects that build, warp and reverberate the dance floor or speakers or both. Jamie Jones provides a tougher take on the track more towards techno focusing on the key elements of the track to produce a more bass heavy, sub-shaking track.

Dino Lenny – Dont Believe (Rebellion)

Another sub-label this time for Crosstown Rebels and Dino Lenny who has 90’s notoriety from remixing INXS, Underworld, Missy Elliot & Timbaland. He steps up with his newest production Don’t Believe. A two track release with Plastic Man on the B-side which is right up the street of Maceo Plex or Ten Walls which means this track is one that TBC like. The A-side is deep, progressive with haunting vocals and roaring chords that create a sinister sounding track. The B-side is dark and moody with keys that provide a ‘wub…wub….wub”  throughout. Progressive again in style with an array of effects, sounds and vocals. Couldn’t choose between the two as they are both excellent productions.

Garden City Movement – Modern West EP (BLDG5 Records)

The most alternative music offering of this article and to be honest it wasn’t strictly TBC material but we are always open to new music. Garden City Movement are an alternative urban group who produce experimental, urban sounding, dubstep,grime and pop crossover. A five track release with the title track being the weakest offering as it was just too cheesy. Each of the other 4 tracks were interesting with uplifting dubby track Rebellion and an alternative disco track with balearic sounds called My Only Love. Sorting Things Out was a crackly hubby number with nice percussion and beats while When We Had It Easy provides a broken beat pop record. Sorting Things Out was probably our favourite but the whole record was a nice alternative offering.

Our Top Five, in no particular order:

  1. Subb-An – Warp (One Records)
  2. Denney – Pimp Out (Hot Creations)
  3. Skream – Still Lemonade (Crosstown Rebels) 
  4. Mark Jenkyns feat. MC Chickaboo – On Me (Hot Creations)
  5. Monday Club – Blackout (VIVa Music)

Just choosing a top five has been difficult as there are some great records covered in this article. Dino Lenny’s Don’t Believe and the Eskimo Recordings releases were very close to squeezing in. Unfortunately we had to shortlist otherwise we would just be selecting every release from the 13 which is not only lazy but a failing when writing up a review article. In the shortlist we have a great Subb-An record on One Records (who were kind enough to share this promo release with us). He has been on a roll recently with his Essential Mix on BBC that was well received – we are sure he will have a good 2015. Denny is a new artist to TBC but his sound isn’t and this release is a great addition to our G-House collection, we can’t fault a good G-House record as we have become hooked since discovering the genre last year via Amine Edge and Dance’s Essential Mix and our experience at Kater Haus in Kater Blau, Berlin. Skream provides a sample of his upcoming album, which is to be released via Damian Lazarus’s Crosstown Rebels label, with Still Lemonade. This is a well produced club stormer with a great remix from Redshape, we challenge you not to be impressed with this record and we can’t wait to hear it out in a club. Mark Jenkyns is another newbie to TBC but MC Chickaboo isn’t as she featured on one of my all time favourite songs by Timo Maas which I loved so much back in the day I even invented a dance called the ‘Shifter’, I am not joking! On Me and Like This are great tracks plus the Skream remix is superb, he is on a roll at the moment. Monday Club was the surprise of the bunch as we weren’t expecting much from this one but it has provided the most fun at TBC HQ with the warehouse rave tracks, great acid house style and quirky effects, vocals etc. including the excellent ‘Speak & Spell’ vocal effect on Blackout which is so retro its excellent.

As you can tell from the positive words above selecting a favourite is difficult and to be honest has divided opinion at TBC HQ as it is between Monday Club and Skream and both are excellent. The remaining entries in the shortlist have to be commended and it is great to see such a great selection of new tracks from just the 13 we have been lucky enough to review. Having spent a great deal of time listening to each of the favourites we had to go with Monday Clubs latest EP Blackout. The duo have created a superb 5 track EP that captures the Acid sound and warehouse party vibe perfectly. Each track would be well received at a party but could be equally enjoyed at home on a nice bassy sound system. The reason this release sets itself apart from Skream’s release, only just mind you, is that Monday Club deliver on three different tracks and even throw in a Luke Solomon stripped back remix along with an Acapella mix for good measure. It isn’t often an EP provides entertainment from start to finish so not only is this the best release it is also the one with the best value for money. Please have a look at Monday Club’s Soundcloud page below and check out Blackout once it is released, unfortunately there isn’t a streaming link we can offer currently.

Congratulations to Monday Club – Blackout (VIVa Music)

soundcloud.com/mondayclubmusic

Many thanks for reading and we hoped that you enjoyed. We will be back soon with more on TBC.

We would like to thanks Maouris, One Records and all of the individual record labels mentioned above for the opportunity to review their latest releases.

Nick

Maouris Promotional Reviews – January 2015

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HotC056 SEFF

This will be our third promotional review linked with Maouris promotions and we are grateful for the opportunity to listen to and review their latest releases. This time we have been fortunate to have access to 15 of their latest single/EP releases from November/December 2014 and January 2015 which have ranged from blissed out electronica to techno including some disco, house and electro. The format of this review will be a brief summary of the releases, labels and tracks followed by a more in depth review of the best three releases from which we will select our favourite release.

We were kindly informed by the Maouris team that our access would include a greater range of labels this time round including; Visionquest, Rebellion, Hot Creations, International Feel, Crosstown Rebels, Eskimo Recordings, Soul Clap Records, Firehouse Recordings (Kim Ann Foxman’s new label), BOSO (Mario Basanov/Ten Walls label), Play It Say It (Seth Troxler’s label) and boy were we pleased to have such great access to this cross section of the electronic music market. A great deal of time has been spent listening, repeat listening, researching and providing our feedback to Maouris, now it is time for us to spread the joy to our followers and friends at TBC. The artists which featured along with their release title, record label and short summary are listed below:

  • Jay Haze – The Mulatar House (Soul Clap Records) – This EP features the bizarre and interesting Mulatar 3 sided string instrument which provides the foundation for the three tracks. Wonky, dreamy, balearic sum up this release.
  • Kim Ann Foxman – Firehouse 001 (Firehouse Recordings) – Hercules and Love Affair vocalist Kim Ann Foxman has been toying with electronic music production and featured vocals for a while now which has lead to her setting up her own record label fresh out of Brooklyn. Groovy, Acid Squelch, Haunting vocals and trip breakdown sum up the release.
  • Subb-An feat. The Million Plan – Vapour Trails (Crosstown Rebels) – Very extended player should be the format of this release as it features 6 tracks including the title track, Oasis and Black fire plus some great remixes including a Mathew Herbert classic. Bassy, Dubby, ‘Herbert-ised’ (new word for Herbert’s ability to create a new track with his remixes), Acid Arab sum up the release.
  • Johannes Brecht – Enjoy the Void (BOSO) – Mario Basanov AKA Ten Walls has helped set up and launch the label with this immense Ten Walls tracks over the last 12/18 months and this new release is cut from the same cloth with the signature sound that the label is now renowned for. Progressive, Emotional, Atmospheric, Uplifting, Eclectic sum up the release.
  • Len Leise – Music for Forests (International Feel) – the most bizarre release of this promotional selection and it needs to be heard to be believed. The words used to introduce this track by Maouris cannot be topped so I would recommend having a read – http://maouris.co.uk/music-detail.php?c=ifeel035-music-for-forests. Chilled, Dreamy, Nature, Percussion, Animals, Meditation sum up the release.
  • Luca C and Brigante feat. Roisin Murphy – Invisions (Hot Creations) – The follow up track to Flash of Light from the same team gives us Invisions which is another great release featuring Roisin Murphy who is a TBC favourite through both her Moloko and solo artist releases. Deep House, Summery, Amazing Vocals, Luke Solomon Remix (which is epic), sum up this release.
  • NTEIBINT feat. Birsen – Riptide (Eskimo Recordings) – George Bakalakos or NTEIBINT has releases on Warp, Kitsune and Bang Gang which ticks a lot of boxes that TBC admire in regards to record labels and musical genres. We were intrigued and interested with this release which is a blend of pop and disco. Electronica, Amazing Vocals (from Birsen, a Belgian vocalist), Pop, Disco, Electro sum this release up.
  • Berkson & What – Make it True feat. JoJo De Freq (Play It Say It) – in 2014 Seth Troxler set up his own label which has featured Sharam, Clarian and Steve Lawler releasing tracks with a sound that you would be familiar of having listened to Mr.Troxler’s own DJ sets. Sunshine, Groovy, Acid Squelch, Luke Solomon Remix (he is on fire at the moment, Essential Mix on the cards for Friday 16th January, don’t miss it!) sum it up.
  • Davi – Gates of Babylon (Rebellion) – From a subsidiary of Crosstown Rebels vast music empire comes a release via Rebellion and it is on the back of a recent wave of Arabic inspired tracks that Acid Arab have brought to the masses over the last 12/18 months. House/Techno, Progressive, Hazy, Summer, Arabic sum this one up.
  • Laura Jones – Eskipade (Visionquest) – Laura Jones is a fan favourite since her rise in the DJ ranks over the last 3/4 years courtesy of great DJ sets and releases. TBC were fortunate to see Laura in her early days when she played with Ellen Allien at Sankeys in Manchester (October 2011 – Queens of Sankey’s) where she was excellent. This new release is more straight up dance floor music with a heavy groove consistent throughout, perfect for the bass rich club sound system. Tech-House, Heavy Groove, Acid Squelch, Kick Drum, Hand Clap sum up the release.
  • Steve Lawler – House Record (Hot Creations) – Steve Lawler is a house music legend and provides the latest release for Jamie Jones and Lee Foss on their Hot Creations label with a sound that you would expect from the label; catchy, groovy house music. Acid House, Old School, Energy, Hand Clap sum this one up.
  • SEFF – Jack’s Back (Hot Creations) – a great EP from a new artist to TBC but SEFF has worked with Steve Lawler and Dave Seaman already which gives him a great pedigree. House music with electro and great basslines which sound excellent played loud. We will keep an eye out for SEFF in the future. Electro House, Old School Vocal, Sub Bass, Evil Synths sum this one up.
  • Sandeman and John Monkman – French Girl in Berghain (Rebellion) – Another release from Rebellion/Crosstown Rebels with a bizarre house track and a porno sounding female vocal that was born out of an experience at Berghain in Berlin for the tracks producers. Freaky, Shonky, Wonky, Epic Breakdown, Bizarre, Berghain sums this up.
  • Moreon & Baffa – A Mental Process (Visionquest) – This producer team hail from Venezuela and now reside in Barcelona, which is one of TBC’s favourite places in the world, and their roots and environment suit their production style. They are traditional producers who understand music at a ground level and are renowned for their music ‘architecture’ and sonic landscapes. Progressive, Structure, Minimal, Deadbeat Remix (heavy, synth noises and storming bass) sum this one up.
  • Dave Angel – Revelation (Crosstown Rebels) – A new release from a UK techno legend who has been around in the music industry since i was born in 1983. Dave Angel is well know for his 1990 mash up track featuring Sweet Dreams from the Eurythmics titled the Nightmare Mix (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pegKuWUR84Y) which is an acid house/rave stormer. Since this time he has released over 50 singles and albums making him a stalwart for the UK techno scene. Progressive Techno, Old School Vocal/Sample, Synths, Keys, 90’s, Bass sum up this release

As you will have identified from the diverse selection we have reviewed and summarised above selecting our best three releases and our favourite was very difficult. The variety of musical genres, some great remixes which transformed the EP, brilliant producers and featured artists have both entertained us over the last few weeks and had TBC asking themselves which releases stood out above the rest. The shortlist in no particular order:

1. Davi – Gates of Babylon (Rebellion)

  • Over the last 18 months Acid Arab have brought us their collection of tracks, an amazing RA podcast and influenced a whole scene in House music where the arabic sound has become very popular. TBC have enjoyed this direction in House music and always keep an eye out for new records that sit in this sub-genre of which Davi has now added his production work via Rebellion/Crosstown Rebels. This EP is excellent, it oozes quality production skills and the progressive style used works perfectly with the arabic sounds. You can play both tracks back to back and they mix perfectly which is proof of the quality in the production. It is hard to pick a favourite out of Gates of Babylon and Eclipse so we can only recommend them both.

2. SEFF – Jack’s Back (Hot Creations)

  • SEFF’s credentials over the last few years would enable you to predict that a great release was on the cards, working with Steve Lawler and Dave Seaman (two of the all time dance music greats) on their respective labels and with Great Stuff Recordings which is a TBC favourite label, however having not heard of the DJ before we were both surprised and excited with this release. Jack’s Back features three tracks; Like That, Jack’s Back and Zoot, and they are all excellent in their own way. Jack’s Back, the title track, is probably the weaker of the three but it still provides a great party feel and would be more suited to earlier in the night. Like That and Zoot are right on the money and provide energy, basslines, synths and old school sounds which sit between House and Techno perfectly, with Zoot being our favourite due to its marching beat and evil sounding synth sounds. We look forward to more from SEFF.

3. NTEIBINT feat. Birsen – Riptide (Eskimo Recordings)

  • The most leftfield of our selections in the top three but we would expect nothing less from an Eskimo Recordings release and an artist that has featured on WARP, Kitsune and Bang Gang which is a diverse yet excellent array of record labels in their own right. NTEIBINT has produced a track which sits well within the urban electronic pop genre which has been very popular over the last few years nesting nicely between commercial pop music and the gritty urban club scene. The radio edit is probably our least favourite version of the track as it doesn’t provide you with enough of Birsen’s beautiful vocal and NTEIBINT’s electronic production skills. The extended version sits at around 7 minutes and is the perfect duration to enjoy both aspects of the song. You will definitely find yourself bopping away to the tune, humming to the vocal and wanting to play on repeat. The Dub version even provides an option to play out in the club during a disco or house set which is nice.

We would highly recommend all three releases but our favourite has to be SEFF as it is the most suited to TBC and we could imagine dancing around to Like That and Zoot on the loud sound system at one of our nights. The EP features three great tracks, doesn’t worry about remixes and just focuses on the dance floor and production. We hope to see SEFF playing out at some stage and hope the next releases maintain the same quality and style.

Notable mentions go to Johannes Brecht’s Enjoy the Void on BOSO and Subb-An’s Vapour Trails on Crosstown Rebels who were close behind the selections above but didn’t quite make it. There are also some notable tracks also that did not make it onto the shortlist but they were true gems on their respective EP. Luke Solomon’s remixes are standout for Luca C & Brigante feat. Roisin Murphy Invisions  and Berkson & What Make it True. These are the two most recommended remixes across the selection. The Mathew Herbert remix of Subb-Ann Vapour Trails is a close third.

We hope you have enjoyed reading, look forward to your feedback and we will bring you more promo reviews soon.

TBC

The Glitterous Disco Ball Parade!

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FullSizeRender

 
 

Well TBCers! The Glitterous Disco Ball Parade was literally the party to end all parties for this bitch! I partied so hard last Saturday that I have actually …………….(and I mean actually) ………….LOST MY HEAD!!!!!!!!!!!! Check out the picture for my new look involving minimal above neck action! I know, I know, it is hardly anything to make jokes about and I would be truly mortified (if I was capable of emotion without a head) if it wasn’t for the fact that I lost it in such a magnificent and glittery fashion! This party was so sublime that I was spinning, gyrating and throwing myself around on the mirror ball dance floor none stop for the whole 8 hours! I popped, I krumped and I did the robot until I lost track of all my senses – I literally knocked my block off!
 

The music was provided by Liam Spillane who pumped out some funky disco and electro numbers to get the crowd going at the start of the night. After that Oliver Cattley cranked up the BPM to play some awesome hard and fast techno and really got the dance floor going! Oli was really spurring on my head shaking action with his non-stop bouncing and grinning behind the decks! TBC residents Omar El Gohary and Simon Bryan were up next and they showed how awesome they sound playing back2back. I was in wild abandon by this point but I certainly remember a packed dance floor full of beaming faces going mad to some classic TBC style techno! James Avery certainly pummelled the TBCers with some hard techno classics. Tiga’s mix of Friendly Fires “Blue Cassette” was a particular favourite! Collect resident Ben Capiter rounded the night off perfectly and left the party crew gagging for more. His set was truly sublime!
 

Once again, guests of the glitterous parade went the whole hog with their outfits and there wasn’t a glitter free body part in sight! Coloured wigs, glitter top hats, sequin trousers and a disco ball jacket were all on parade! With a party guest travelling all the way from NYC it was a MUST that TBC pulled off a great party – the unbeatably friendly and fun Sheffield party crowd and top quality DJs ensured that her transatlantic flight was well worth it!
 

I may now be sans head but I’m sure after a bit of sleep and some therapy it will return, until then TBCers – party on!

TBC Review – BBC Essential Mix of the Year 2014

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Pete Tong announced the shortlist for the Essential Mix of the year 2014 last weekend (6th December) and TBC thought it best that we had our own review of the shortlist and select our favourite.

The shortlist:

  1. Bicep
  2. Caribou
  3. Jon Hopkins
  4. Joy Orbison
  5. Ten Walls

Over the last week at TBC we have been re-listening to the Essential Mix of the year shortlist and boy have we had a good time. Boogying at lunch time at work, while driving in the car, walking to the shops and, of course, loudly at TBC HQ, basically whenever we got a spare second we have had the essential mixes on. It has been incredibly enjoyable to review some mixes which we hadn’t given too much time to when they were aired; Caribou and Joy Orbison, as well as reviewing the other mixes which we had thoroughly enjoyed on multiple occasions this year. It has to be said that 2014 was a great year for the essential mix and some great mixes didn’t quite make it into the shortlist. Amine Edge and Dance introduced us to G-House. Marcel Dettmann delivered a monstrous techno mix for the Easter holidays while we were away in NYC and Green Velvet blended his signature techno and electro sounds during the Summer which got us very excited at TBC. We were also throughly entertained by a multitude of music genres and diversity from the likes of Finnebassen, Bonobo, Anja Schneider, Gaiser, Matador, Jimmy Edgar, Kink, Steffi, Subb-an, Heidi and Huxley to name a few. We must all say thanks to Pete Tong and his team at the BBC for again curating an amazing year of Essential Mixes. Roll on 2015!

We have reviewed each mix individually, reduced the list to a top 3 and then selected our favourite, so here it goes.

-Bicep – Deep house’s representation in this years essential mix of the year shortlist. A great party vibe from the Northern Irish due Bicep with the odd harder edged electro or techno track thrown in for good measure, especially nearer the end. Highlights in the mix are; Agoria la Onzieme Marche and Ferrer & Sydenham Timbuktu (Jerome’s Afro Tonic Dub). There is also a superb sample courtesy of Arnold Schwarzenegger in reference to his body building days in Ireland which Bicep have found to introduce their mix and, we assume, hint at the basis for their DJ name. This mix is not quite a TBC favourite but is a great mix to have on at a party whether its pre/post clubbing.
-Caribou – A mix of two halves, one half by Caribou and one half by Daphni, who are the multiple personalities of the Canadian Daniel Snaith. The former is more eclectic, disco, alternative and the latter more dance floor and club focused. Unfortunately the mix doesn’t really take off at any stage and is mainly focused around the representation of the diverse musical knowledge of Caribou, which while providing a great opportunity to appreciate his musical talent does mean that there are less opportunities to get dancing and party hard. It is well mixed, the tune selection is excellent and it has a great structure but it doesn’t make it into the top 3 for TBC.
-Joy Orbison – This mix is raw, filled with amazing eclectic electronica with an urban feel that builds from slow, reggae style tracks at the start to banging techno towards the end. Turn the bass up, treasure the tracklist, find the artists and tracks who feature and track down a Joy Orbison live performance. This mix is so entertaining it had us listening to it back to back for 4 hours! That’s a rare occurrence at TBC, especially when considering we had missed this mix earlier in the 2014 Essential Mix calendar. The highlights of the mix; Lady Blacktronika Getting Heavy, Bruce Technostatic, Kowton Glock & Roll, Barnt’s double selection of Under his Own Name But Also as Sir and Chappell (one of TBC’s current big tunes), Fourtet Buchla and the tracks from Joy Orbison (solo and with Boddika).
-Jon Hopkins – the perfectionist live  show performance feel is what sets this mix apart. The progression and structure of the mix is excellent and is testament to Jon Hopkins skill as a live performer and composer. The mix is delivered via Logic, Ableton and various samples and tools which show off a more technical offering. A particular highlight is one of the best mixes and tune selections we have ever heard from I Breathe ak Horses called Faith (Field Remix) to Gary Beck’s Algoreal, this mix literally leaves you with goosebumps! The musical landscape created by Jon Hopkins is an aural pleasure! Also featuring are great tracks from Daniel Avery, Boddika and Joy Orbison, Clark and Mux Mool to name but a few.
-Ten Walls – This is the most club ready of the mixes and is brought to you by Mario Basanov in his live, progressive techno/electro guise Ten Walls, who produced one of the tracks of 2013; Gotham. This set is the tracklist of Summer 2014 for any one who ventured to dance music festivals at home or abroad, for TBC it was a perfect accompaniment to Melt Festival in Leipzig. The mix has the perfect balance; a great intro track from the Mass Effect Videograme Soundtrack (which is epic), then it builds through eclectic tracks such as Atom TM Ich Bin Meine Maschine to Helium Robots Jarza (Theo Parrish Translation 2). It then progresses with fan favourites such as &Me After Dark, Moderat Bad Kingdom (Dj Koze remix), his own Walking with Elephants. Ten Walls then shows off some of his favourites and less well known producers; a few tracks from Few Nolder (upcoming artist from Lithuania), an Eastern European sounding electro stormer from C.A.R. called Angelina, a beautiful moody track from Robinn called The Game is Now Over and ends with Plastikmans dark and haunting Consumer plus a final outro from the Mass Effect soundtrack.
The Top 3
  1. Ten Walls
  2. Jon Hopkins
  3. Joy Orbison

The top 3 is summarised by Club vs Perfection vs Raw, respectively. Ten Walls provides the mix most representative of TBC clubbing in 2014 and in particular Melt Festival which was one our highlights of the year, Jon Hopkins delivers a perfectionist live performance that you would expect from a live performer (similar to John Talabot currently, Paul Kalkbrenner a few years ago or, for the older ones, Junkie XL) and Joy Orbison hits you with a devastating raw mix of techno and dub that makes selecting one of the three as a favourite very difficult. The decision was difficult and the countless hours spent listening to the mixes, some a multiple of times for the full 120 minutes and others in segments to identify those key tracks, mixes and transitions that make a mix excel. However, finally after a lot of consideration, we made our call and gave Essential Mix of the year 2014 to Joy Orbison. It wouldn’t have been our selection when we first saw the list announced and choosing this mix over Ten Walls and Jon Hopkins was difficult when there were so many good things to say about these mixes but Joy Orbison literally blew us away. The style of the mix, the fact that he rarely performs live or records mixes, the severity of some of the tracks on the scale of heavy techno and the fact that we had rarely heard a mix from this DJ/producer before created a package that is hard not to love.

We look forward to hearing from the Essential Mix team and Pete Tong himself on who they will vote for the Essential Mix of the year 2014.

Looking forward to next year when we hope the level of the mixes remains of this calibre. The artists we would like to see next year are listed below, we hope that some feature.

Ellen Allien, Helena Hauf, Ben Klock, John Talabot, Modeselektor, Acid Pauli, Mister Saturday Night, Robert Hood, Pan Pot, Gary Beck, Shed, Oliver Koletzki, The Hacker, Oliver Schories, Objekt, Model 500, Tube & Berger, Spektre.
Thanks for reading and check out the mixes for yourself below. Tell us what you think.
TBC

Promo Album Review – Mister Saturday Night pres. Weekends and Beginnings

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Weekends_Beginnings_Promo_Credit_Scott_Bowley

Welcome back to another of our Promotional Album Reviews for TBC. This time we are announcing another of our amazing opportunities to review a great record label release; Mister Saturday Night. When we visited New York in April 2014 we got caught up in the hype that accompanies this amazing night as we planned our partying over the Easter Weekend and visited the local record shops in Brooklyn. Unfortunately there wasn’t a Mister Saturday Night party that weekend but we heard plenty about the label from local record shops owners and employees who were keen to promote the latest EP release. TBC feel an affinity with Mister Saturday Night (MSN) based on our experience of their nights, musical stance and dedication to a good party and their mission on their website:

“Mister Saturday Night strives to do a little more than a typical party. With a love of great music and a passion for bringing people together, we try to create an experience that’s truly fun and engaging for everyone involved – party people, DJs, bartenders and doormen alike.”

We were very excited when we were offered a chance to be added to their promotional mailing list and couldn’t wait to review their next big release in November which was to be a new compilation CD. We will also be reviewing the back catalogue including the amazing LP Brother and Sisters (released back in July 2014)

Eamon Harkin and Justin Carter, commonly know as the duo Mister Saturday Night, provide the DJ collaboration for their record label’s (which shares their duo name) latest release called Weekends & Beginnings. The mix CD was released on the 18th November and is available through on line retailers and iTunes. It was recorded live at an MSN party in August 2014 and from the outset you know this one is going to be special when the French vocal led track from Le Chanteur graces your speakers. This is followed by a great disco track from Terrence Jerome and then slips nicely into a groovy, piano infused, vocal house track from Alice Smith titled Love Endeavour.  This track eases you into the mix and helps you to imagine the mood in the club with the musical flow developing a great party vibe. It doesn’t take long for the MSN duo to introduce some heavy drum beats and show off their eclecticism with a heavy percussive, tribally track from Nebraska and a new track from Cobblestone Jazz (Mathew Jonson lead trio) which pulses with an acid sounding baseline. The mix continues to develop and features some great artists and tracks; Mr.G, Anthony Parasole and Caribou. The mix really steps it up a notch at around the half an hour mark with a superb remix by Motor City Drum Ensemble of Caribou’s Leave House which builds on the haunting vocal to deliver a atmospheric progressive track that sits well within the mix and shows off the remixers signature sound. This is then followed by a great samba style track featuring trumpets and piano keys from Adessa Versions that makes you shake your ass. The proceeding tracks maintain the uplifting vibe of the mix CD with gospel style, funky and samba style percussive house that lead up to TBC’s favourite track Take That from Jurgen Paape which is a true TBC classic. Take That does exactly what is says on the tin and thrusts a bouncy, electro synth track right in your face, we couldn’t help but turn the mix up at this point, throw some shapes and even enjoy a cheeky ‘rewind’ moment as we had to listen to the track again. Next, Ike Release brings you down with a moody, hazy progressive track called Phazzled which then leads on to quirky, dubby,  broken vocal track from Recloose and then to Bassclef’s dreamy soundscape. Finally ending the mix with an amazing track from Sam Orwell which features an awesome saxophone solo to provide you with a sublime yet eclectic finale.

Tracklisting:

01. Le Chanteur – La Passion des Collines**
02. Terrence Jerome – Believe**
03. Alice Smith – Love Endeavor (Maurice Fulton Remix)
04. Nebraska – Green Marimba
05. Cobblestone Jazz – Traffic Jam
06. Mr. G – Daily Prayer
07. Anthony Parasole/Elgato – Quickstrike/Zone
08. Caribou – Leave House (Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix)
09. Adesse Versions – Modal
10. Jasper Street Company – Solid Ground (Tommy Musto Remix)
11. House of Gypsies – Another Worry
12. Lord Nelson – Shango (Daniel Haaksman and DJ Beware Remix)
13. DJ Duke – Sun Beats
14. Jurgen Paape – Take That
15. Ike Release – Phazzled
16. Recloose – Can’t Take It (Herbert’s Some Dumb Dub)
17. Bassclef – Ghost Kicks In The Spiral
18. Sam Orwell – Secret Nothings**

Weekends & Beginnings is top notch eclectic house party set that leaves you envious of not experiencing it live, the added crowd noise just adds to the jealousy. This style is exactly what TBC HQ love in a good mix CD and it will remain on our playlist for a while. Disco, ‘eclecticity’, techno and house all feature and yet at no point, despite the diverse tracklist, do you ever feel like the mix is disjointed, it flows so well that it highlights the Mister Saturday Night party formula creates the perfect party mix. We need to get our asses back to Brooklyn NYC, fast!

We hope you have enjoyed the review and we cannot recommend this mix high enough.

Thanks for reading, and thank you to the Mister Saturday Night team.

If you would like a sneak peak at the NYC loft party vibe then check out the great feature on Resident Advisor below:

TBC

Promotional Album Review – Eskimo Recordings pres. The Green Collection

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Eskimo Green

Good evening TBC. Hot on the heels of our last promotional review post, thanks to our recent tie in with Eskimo Recordings via Maouris Promotions, we have another post featuring a new compilation called The Green Collection. If you have been fortunate to listen to the previous two releases titled the Pink and Blue collection you will know that Eskimo Recordings releases are as cool as their name suggests, they seem to effortlessly select the most upfront disco, deep house and house that is currently on offer. We would highly recommend that you check out the previous collections along with the record labels back catalogue which is extensive and equally as impressive.

The most difficult thing in the dance music industry is to be able to continuously put out single releases, albums and compilations while remaining at the forefront of your specific music genre. If you were to base your assessment of Eskimo on their last two releases you would believe that they were up there with the best in disco and deep house. They have managed to secure tracks by big artists such as Freeform Five feat. Roisin Murphy on their last Blue collection and have their own label favourites such as Satin Jackets who have a track on each of the three albums in the series. The Blue collection is one our favourite releases of 2014 at TBC and therefore we were apprehensive when we heard that a new collection was out so soon. Could it live up to its predecessor?

You first notice when listening to the new Green Collection compilation that a shift has taken place since its predecessor where the focus has moved to a more dreamy, percussive disco track structure on the first half of the album and a more upbeat, ‘spacey’ disco, synthesiser lead structure on the latter half. If you had your heart set on more of the same you may well be disappointed but you shouldn’t be because Eskimo have provided an alternative side to their label which should excite and captivate you. The earlier tracks from Knight One, Alexander Skancke and Horixon (the latter two were reviewed on TBC in September – follow this link https://technobreakfastclub.co.uk/2014/09/28/album-and-single-releases-promo-reviews/ ) are well produced, dreamy disco tracks with each one having its own quirky take on the Eskimo sound. Vinny Villbass (an Eskimo favourite who provided a great remix to the Found my Place track by Skancke), Mees Dierdrop and NTEIBINT pick things up a bit with their funky, spaced out disco sounds that have a more eclectic feel featuring wonky strings, ‘trancey’ lullabies and space funk respectively. From track 7 onwards is where this album moves onto a different level, lead by an amazing new track from Kraak & Smaak who are underground house legends from Netherlands. Their track Ghostnote has to be the standout track, oozing class and showing off an 80’s power track that wouldn’t go amiss in a stylish movie soundtrack like “Drive”. The synth lead piano track rises and falls throughout the track leaving you powerless to avoid grooving away. Duncan Grey, Blende, Trulz & Robin and Man Power continue the more upbeat focus of the album with tracks well suited to follow the monster Ghostnote. Blende’s track Sparkle would have to be the second stand out track, another great, classy, synth lead, space disco track (see sample below). The album ends with an almost Moderat-esque euphoric track by Satin Jackets featuring a superb vocal from Patrick Baker that will emotionally move you, a great way to end the album.

Overall this is a great edition to the Eskimo Recordings catalogue and creates a superb trilogy that all disco and house fans should own. Is the newest release better than the Blue Collection in TBC’s opinion I hear you asking? We wouldn’t say so, but the former collection was an exceptional release where each track shone, whereas the latest Green Collection provides a more diverse selection of what Eskimo have to offer that impresses in its own way.

We hoped you enjoyed and we have another great promotional label tie in to announce soon so keep you eyes peeled.

TBC

 

Album and Single Releases – Promo Reviews

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Evening TBC followers, as promised in our latest TBC Playlist blog (hopefully you have all had a chance to read the latest edition) we have a special surprise and great new feature to our review section. We have teamed up with Maouris, who are responsible for promotions for some of the best labels in house, disco and techno. Currently bringing you new and current single & album releases from the likes of Eskimo Recordings, Crosstown Rebels, Culprit, International Feel, K7, Global Underground, Cadenza and Turbo to new name but a few. We hope to give you an upfront guide to new and upcoming releases in addition to the normal playlist feature.

The format will be a summary of the upcoming and recent releases and we will select our top 3 releases in each review blog. There will also be special review blogs for our favourite albums or releases, so please check regularly for our newest articles.

  • Fernando – Infinite Ways (International Feel – Released October 2014)
    • An Argentinian producer who has released a low BPM EP with three great spaced out disco tracks. Infinite Ways is the title track, it is the fastest of the three tracks and is obviously the main release track. A great guitar baseline and ‘synthy noises’ create the foundation for this track which is accompanied by an electro sounding vocal from Dom Wrong. Road Music is spaced out vocal number and  The Reason is a slow, chunkier sounding track with a great vocal and progressive, uplifting keys section.
  • Jozif – Waikiki (Culprit – Released October 2014)
    • Under The Thumb feat. Jenny Jones is a progressive/deep house track with an uplifting, happy vibe and floaty vocals, a nice track which is chopped up and made more ‘dancey’ in the No Regular Play remix. Waikiki is a blissed out, haunty piano influenced progressive track. Good Man is a groovy number which features a nice trumpet & piano combo & some bizarre sound effects along with a deep vocal, the Matt Tolfrey EC1 mix of Good Man is a much more chilled affair. Good Man is definitely the best release on Waikiki.
  • Horixon feat. Robert Owens  – Brighter Day (Eskimo Recording – Released 22nd September 2014)
    • Brighter Day starts the EP and its a 90’s influenced house track with a great vocal from Robert Owens, the remixes (one is a vocal dub mix) from Locked Groove take the record to another level. Titled the ‘Marching Trumpets Remix’ the Locked Groove edit is more bassy, it feels club ready and has a tough, tech-edged groove (pardon the pun). Great Things features vocals from Jacques Teal and is a more dreamy track that reminds me of a Hot Chip production which is testament to the quality of this track from Horixon.
  • Joel Hood – Gone EP (International Feel – Released 15th September 2014)
    • Gone is a great summertime feeling track, uplifting & progressive with a number of great sound effects and samples going off throughout the track. The vocal is similar to the indie/electronica bands of recent years; MGMT, Phoenix, Friendly Fires. While You Were Waiting is a dreamy, chilled house track and could feature on a Cafe Del Mar album. Pissholes in the Snow is one of the more randomly named tracks that I have ever seen, the track itself is more in the vein of Gone, an indie dance style track out of the Friendly Fires mould again. Twisted electro sounding guitar riffs and uplifting beats make this a catchy little number. In Turmoil is a super slow, low BPM track that almost feels as though the music is being blown away, super dreamy and very chilled track with ghostly vocal samples. Gone is the outstanding track on this release.
  • Alexander Skancke feat. HEwrote – Found My Place (Eskimo Recordings – Released 8th September 2014)
    • A Single Release with 3 alternative remixes of Found My Place provides the dubby, percussion lead original with some great alternatives where the remixes seem to have more to get your teeth into. The House Mix and Tropical Mix by Vinny Villbass are both excellent, the former utilises the dubby, percussive foundation of the original to create a twisted version where the vocals really shine through, the latter slows things down and emphasises the percussion with what seems like a steel/kettle drum, just need to find a beach to enjoy this track on. The last mix by Oskar Offerman is the hardest of the three but by stripping down the track to minimal elements seems to lose the best parts of the original which Villbass managed to harness on his house mix.
  • ValentinStip – Sigh Remixes (Other People – Released 25th August 2014)
    • Stips’s Sign Remixes are the most experimental of the 6 records in this review. The first track Pendule mixed by LoVil doesn’t really hit the spot based on my music preferences, the track is very chilled & experimental and doesn’t do enough to keep me entertained. The second track Tableaux mixed by Ratowsky and Solpara is much more to my liking, the broken beat is accompanied by a haunting riff and stabby kick drums that keep the track flowing nicely up and down throughout the 8 and a half minutes, the breakdown in the middle provides great aural entertainment.

The three standout releases above are, in order:

  1. Fernando – Infinite Ways
  2. Horixon – Brighter Days
  3. Joel Hood – Gone EP

All three artists selected are new Artists to TBC and we look forward to hearing more from both them and the relevant record labels.

Many thanks to Maouris and the record labels for this opportunity. Please have a look at the website (see below link).

http://www.maouris.co.uk/insight

Ta Ta for now,

TBC

TBC Playlist September 2014

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Fabric #77 by Marcel Dettmann – Various Artists (2014)

FAZEmag in the Mix #27 – Adana Twins (2014)

FAZEmag in the Mix #28 – Adriatique (2014)

Wankelmoods Vol.2 – Wankelmut (2014)

DJ Kicks mixed by Will Saul – Various Artists (2014)

Too Slow to Disco – DJ Supermarkt (2014)

Tsugi Podcast #337 – The Emperor Machine (2014)

Defected Pres.Dimitri from Paris in the House Disco – Various Artists (2014)

Mister Saturday Night pres. Brothers & Sisters – Various Artists (2014)

Let Love Begin – Nicone (2014)

BBC Essential Mix – Amine Edge & Dance (2014)

Enter pres. Ibiza – Various Artists (2014)

RA Podcast #426 by Oliver Hafenbauer – Various Artists (2014)

DJ T Pres. The House that Jack Built Vol.1 & 2 – Various Artists (2012)

Playground Mix #100 by Hal Incandenza (Henry Saiz) – Various Artists (2014)

BBC Essential Mix – Finnebassen (2014)

Spread the Word – Agents of Time (2014)

Global Underground #40 by Solomun – Various Artists (2014)

Full Pupp Pres. 10 Years of Full Pupp by Prins Thomas – Various Artists (2014)

Defected Pres. Nic Fanciulli in the House – Various Artists (2014)*

BBC Essential Mix – Ten Walls (2014)

Classics

Kitsune Tabloid by Digitalism – Various Artists (2008)

Kitsune Tabloid by The Twelves – Various Artists (2011)

Kitsune Tabloid by Phoenix – Various Artists (2009)

Times Like These – Alden Tyrell (2006)

Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller #1-4 – Drexciya (2011-2013)

Eskimonde pres. A Decade of Eskimo Music – Various Artists (2012)

Eskimo Recordings Vol.3 – Various Artists (2001)

Run With Me – Kiki (2004)

Welcome back TBC followers to the latest instalment of the TBC Playlist. Once again we apologise for the delay between the playlist blog entries however 2014 continues to be a busy year at HQ. Summer 2014 saw extended 31st Birthday celebrations for myself and the adventures of the European festival and clubbing experience. This time round we sampled the wares of Berlin, in particular Melt festival in July followed a by a week of “relaxing” in East Berlin. I’m sure Betty Bitch will be telling you all about this adventure so I will not spoil anything but you may understand why we have been slow on the website updates. The best thing about a long break between Playlists is that we can offer an extended selection and we have been able to thoroughly enjoy and critique the best albums, mixes and releases of the last few months.

The September Playlist features a great diversity of music from the obvious techno selection to electro, house, progressive, disco and even features a new genre which has been a particular highlight of our summer ‘G-House’ or Gangsta House as it is more commonly known. We have some of the best artists of recent years; Dettmann, DJ.T, Nic Fanciulli, Digitalism & Dimitri from Paris, as well as some newer, lesser known, artists for you to discover; DJ Supermarkt, Adana Twins, Amine Edge & Dance, Finnebassen, Ten Walls, Drexciya and Oliver Hafenbauer. We hope that you enjoy reading the latest playlist and discovering some new albums/mixes and artists for your enjoyment.

While trawling through the latest releases and back through the collection to our last playlist in June it became evident that there have been some amazing mixes released as CD compilations from the ‘Big Boy Labels’ Fabric, Global Underground, DJ Kicks and Defected but also from other record labels such as Minus, Mister Saturday Night, Poesie Music (Wankelmut) and Full Pupp. The electronic releases were also strong from the BBC and Pete Tong in the Essential Mix, the Resident Advisor Podcast and one of our new favourites FAZEmag (the German equivalent, albeit a lot more credible, than Mixmag in the UK). Unfortunately there are only two artist production albums that feature this time round but both are worth checking out; Nicone are signed to Still Vor Talent an amazing electro label that was set up by Oliver Koletzki and Agents of Time who are an Italian group releasing their debut album that provides a great deep house, progressive and ‘haunting’ sound.

We would also like to speak a little bit more about the Classics selection this time round, as to avoid the sense of them just being ‘thrown’ into the playlist without a proper mention. The classics this time are made up from some older gems that we found in our collection courtesy of Kitsune and their amazing Tabloid series which has three superb editions to enjoy from Digitalism, The Twelves and Phoenix. We also have a legendary electro collection from Drexciya (we sourced and bought 2 of this series on vinyl while in Berlin which was a treat) , Alden Tyrell and Kiki. Both the Kitsune and the electro collection provided some great entertainment as they are great for party music and are a great insight into artists and record labels that represent the pinnacle of their genre of music. You will not be disappointed in these classics, they are timeless. The last of our classics selection is Eskimo Recordings, we previously featured their Blue collection (2014 release) in our June playlist, and there isn’t a single release of theirs that doesn’t hit the mark. The two selections are Vol.3 collection from 2001 which includes a Frankie Knuckles classic and Eskimonde which is an anniversary special 5 disc collection of singles and 2 excellent mixes from The Glimmer’s. We will have some exciting news relating to Eskimo Recordings soon from TBC, they are fast becoming one of our favourite labels.

Now finally on to the best of the Playlist selection:

Fabric #77 by Marcel Dettmann – Various Artists (2014)

This is the third Playlist instalment in a row where a Fabric CD has featured and I had previously stated that this CD series was “hit and miss”, therefore you could say that Fabric are on a roll. I maintain my “hit and miss’ appraisal of Fabric as a CD series as they do not consistently deliver like Global Underground or Balance but I would definitely recommend you keep your eye out for future releases especially with Erol Alkan due up on the FabricLive series. Anyways, thats enough about the series as a whole, on to the Marcel Dettmann instalment. As with his BBC Essential Mix that we selected as our favourite mix from the June Playlist, this Fabric CD is another amazing addition to the Dettmann discography spanning back to 2008 with his first Resident Advisor podcast. Marcel’s MDR record label features heavily in the mix which allows his label to be showcased as one of the forefront in the techno genre, add to this tracks from Ostgut Ton, M-Plant and Dekmantel and you have a raw, comprehensive and relentless collection of techno for your enjoyment. At no point in this mix will you fail to be impressed; whether the mix is building, tracks are being blended to create an amazing techno landscape or you are being pummelled by a monstrous techno track. It is an experience to witness a DJ master the 70/80 minute mix limitation of a CD and this is the second time Marcel has done so, the former being his Conducted mix CD, so we cannot recommend this CD enough.

Too Slow to Disco – DJ Supermarkt (2014)

In 2008 at Bennicassim (Spain) festival we experienced a single DJ play the main outdoor stage, where acts like Roisin Murphy, Morrissey and My Bloody Valentine were due to perform over the weekend, and he totally blew us away despite only taking up enough room on the stage for his CDJ’s and a mixer plus some space to bust some grooves and pull some shapes. DJ Supermarkt has avoided the big time DJ status while maintaining an almost legendary status by those who have experienced him at one of the many European festivals. This legendary but also elusive DJ had not crossed the paths of TBC again until this year when in April he released a new compilation titled ‘Too Slow To Disco’ and announced a European Tour which saw him grace the UK with his presence, this left TBC HQ very excited. In July 2014, after waiting very patiently for a few months, we finally got to see DJ Supermarkt play live at Dry Bar in Manchester and purchase a nice shiny and signed copy of his album on Vinyl. Unfortunately the event in Manchester was only attended by around 13 people which made it very awkward with TBC jumping around at the front like lunatics however we were informed by the man himself that this “made his night” and therefore we saved any embarrassment. The album itself is best introduced by the words on the website link below so I will not waste any time on this and get straight on to the music itself. We were able to enjoy a few of the tracks off the album live at the gig and our favourites from the album; Ned Dohemy – Get It Up For Love is a dreamy, spaced out number, Rupert Holmes – Deco Lady is a quirky, slow number with a great guitar solo that could have featured in a 70’s film, Nicolette Larson – Lotta Love is a catchy country rock inspired disco track with a raspy female vocal and Don Brown – Shut The Door is a catchy, happy disco traffic with a great male vocal.  This album provides a great introduction to DJ Supermarkt but only a little dose of what he can deliver in one of his famous DJ sets. It is one of our more leftfield recommendations but you will be unable to avoid a big smile and shaking your ass to this one which makes it perfect for TBC. We have included some links to the album website and DJ Supermarkt’s blog so that you can get your disco fix.

Start

http://howdoyouare.com

Global Underground #40 by Solomun – Various Artists (2014)

The GU CD series has been on a long break, we have had to wait four years since the last release by Dave Seaman and when you are used to a steady release frequency since 2001 from the likes of Oakenfold, Warren, Sasha, Digweed, Deep Dish, Lavelle and Howells, a four year break makes you think the worst. With the likes of Renaissance going bust after a long history of amazing CD releases it was time to worry for Global Underground also. Our concern however was misplaced as Global Underground are back with a great new release from Solomun entitled Hamburg which is his home town (the album includes a great booklet introducing Solomun’s mix which the GU series is famous for). The first CD is a more chilled, progressive offering which shows us a slightly different side to Solomun for all those who have enjoyed his previous two mixes in 2012; BBC Essential Mix and his Watergate CD vol.11. The second CD is a much more upbeat and club friendly offering which you will want to turn up loud and get dancing too. Particular highlights of the second disc are Solumun’s own track Medea and the classic Radio Slave track My Bleep (Roman Flugel remix). I am not a big fan of the chilled vs clubby CD’s, as has become the norm for many mix CD double disc collections, however in this case I enjoyed both discs and therefore would highly recommend the latest GU mix #40 and hope we don’t have to wait another 4 years for the next instalment.

Defected Pres. Nic Fanciulli in the House – Various Artists (2014)

Ever since the year 2000 when i first began to go clubbing I have followed the career of Nic Fanciulli, from a young resident at Club Class in Maidstone, who also provided great Friday night entertainment at the River Bar Club Class pre-party with his infamous funky house DJ sets, to a residency at Ministry of Sound, a collection of Global Underground and Renaissance CDs, a superb DJ duo tour with James Zabiela called ‘One plus One’, his own nights in Ibiza and now even curating his own festivals at The Social in Maidstone, Kent. It is great to see that Nic remains at the forefront of dance music which is testament to both his DJ and production abilities. The latest Defected pres. release follows a recent purple patch of releases from Defected which includes MK, Henrik Schwarz & Dimitri from Paris (also featured in this Playlist). The Nic Fanciulli edition is another double disc release which does not fall subject to the normal chilled vs upbeat formula (as discussed earlier) and instead is packed with great house and techno from start to finish. The first disc has a more house music focus whereas the second includes some tougher techno tracks however both CD’s are as likely as one another to fuel a great pre or after party. We have enjoyed both discs of this release on more than one occasion and got ourselves in trouble with hotel staff at one point when enjoying at too high a volume in the early hours one morning in Manchester. This mix is definitely up there with previous releases from Mr.Fanciulli and will cut the mustard against the best mixes from the last few years.

BBC Essential Mix – Ten Walls (2014)

This mix only just made this playlist as it only aired on the 13th September however it has earned its place on this Playlist and will be in the running for one of our mixes of the year along with BBC Essential Mix of the year. We were excited that we had the opportunity to see Ten Walls at Melt Festival this year only to have our hopes dashed by an early set in the sweltering heat in Ferropolis that we couldn’t make it to, however Pete Tong came to our aid by lining up Ten Walls (alias of Mario Basanov who had a string of releases over recent years) for the Essential Mix. 2013 was undoubtedly the year of Gotham which rocked every dance floor globally and was the tune of the year for a lot of DJ’s. This resulted in 2014 being a year where every festival and club even has been clamouring for Ten Walls. The follow up tracks to Gotham haven’t disappointed either with the Requiem EP on which Requiem and Mongol are amazing tracks and then Walking with Elephants which has been equally as impressive. Ten Walls decided not to fill his Essential Mix with his own tracks, which is nice for a change as they always seem to be an easy publicity exercise for upcoming DJs to promote their new album. Instead he fills his mix with an amazing ensemble of house, progressive and techno tracks that leave you wondering why you missed him play at the big summer festival! Wow what a mix this is, tracks from Atom TM – Ich Bin Meine Maschine, Moderat – Bad Kingdom (DJ Koze remix), &ME – After Dark are stand out tracks and are great memories of the big tracks this summer past. He even slips in a great sample from the video game Mass Effect which satisfies the geekier fans (like myself). Please listen to this mix, we will put a link below and hope that it works so that you can enjoy.

Wow that was an epic Playlist review, all due to the high quality of the best of the selection which we have enjoyed listening to again and again while writing this blog article. My fingers are hurting from all the typing! Now it is time to put our necks on the line and actually try and pick a favourite from this superb short list. It would be easy to just pick the Ten Walls mix as it was the last mix we heard before writing the article or choose DJ Supermarkt just for the experience we had while discovering the album and attending the release tour party. However we had to put a bit more effort into our selection process and this made it difficult, as it always ends up being, but this month we have to give it to the mix which has remained as exciting every time we have listened to it (and boy have we listened to it a lot since we first received it in the post). The mix provides two individual party sessions over two discs, you would do well to find a better double disc compilation from the last few years and we have been buzzing about this CD ever since we first partied away into the night to it. This Playlist’s top album is:

Defected Pres. Nic Fanciulli in the House – Various Artists (2014) *

Congratulations Mr. Fanciulli you have earned the star next to your album and here’s looking forwards to your next mix CD. Hopefully we will catch you out and about soon as it has been a while since we last saw you live.

Thanks for persevering with this long Playlist and hope you have enjoyed our selection.

TBC