I don’t normally post anything that is described as a ‘banger’. But this got to me. In a good way. It has trance chords and lots of euphoric peaks. Artlessly happy and a free download. No need for me to be churlish.
Blurb: Chicago based Amada closes out the year and brings in the new with “Rebirth”. Its a high energy-packed progressive house banger that is surely a dance floor juggernaut. Give it a listen and see for yourself.
Another track of Slighter’s breakbeat to listen and name-your-price download. He says this is one for fans of Hybrid. I am one. This is big and heavy. Perhaps heavier than I normally associate with Hybrid. But quality breaks nonetheless. And there’s a more techy breaks bonus track to download.
Bonus track, a bit more tech breaks, really good and free to download: Slighter – Swelt
Blurb: Another bit from the “Repetitive Action Junkie” sessions that I salvaged and thought deserved to see the light of day. This one’s definitely for the fans of HYBRID, SHILOH, STARECASE and other crusaders of the epic breakbeat This is part of the “Extra Junk” EP which is a name your own price EP on Bandcamp! http://slighter.bandcamp.com/album/extra-junk-ep
Released by: Negative Feedback Ltd. Release/catalogue number: NEG EP 006 Release date: Dec 31, 2011
A bit like all the indie acts in the early 90s getting a dance remix, so in the mid-90s everyone seemed to be getting a dnb remix. Here’s one from 1996 for quintessential indie act Everything But The Girl who would move almost completely into dance. The remix is provided by Spring Heel Jack (John and Coxon Ashley Wales) who moved the other way, from dnb to contemporary jazz (more here). They keep the pained strings and add skippy beats. I’ve gone for the dub version to avoid the distraction of Tracey’s voice. Still sounds pretty good.
A rubbish 80s one hit wonder gets turned into Balearic gold. Maybe. I’m a bit confused. This is either going for the Chris Rea approach to making something terminally untrendy into something treasured. Or I’ve been hoodwinked. Free download.
Qualiass calls it mutant disco. It has a slow gentle disco treatment and sounds of the waves. The vocal is still a bit painful. But this just about gets away with it.
Garage. Too many memories of skinny white boys wearing baseball caps and ill fitting jeans down Croydon furiously smoking 10 B&H. Their blank eyes staring as garage pumped out of the stereo. But I’m over that. Right.
Here’s a pleasant enough low-key downtempo piece of garage released by West Country’s Wascal as part of an 8 track EP.
Some more jazzy dnb, but perhaps with a slightly harder edge than yesterday’s, from Lemon D (Kevin King). And another artist who released an early single on Goldie’s Metalheadz label. However, this track is from 1995 and was released on Kickin Records. Still can’t work out how you are supposed to dance to it.
Free album to download. We had The Walton Hoax’ Chemical Burn EP of dubstep back here. They’ve now released an EP’s worth of remixes.
Nymos remixes Exit Strategy in a sort of ambient trance manner. A bit banking advert. Sy.ic does Chemical Burn as a late night lounge track, as Peh replaces the original vocals. ENiGMA does the same track but much more strongly. I liked ENiGMA’s Trentemoller remix and this is equally strong. A dubstep bass adds real weight to the track, without overwhelming it. TTP has his turn at the track in a style similar to Westlife in sit down mode. And finally KiloWatts tackles it as a dubstep lounge piece, largely instrumental. Not bad.
The album can be dowloaded here. I’d keep the ENiGMA. Less sure about the rest.
Blurb: HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! To celebrate an amazing start of 2012, we’ve got a little surprise for you! And don’t worry, it’s not only for Nicole, that’s an inside joke. We’ve prepared a free collection with some beautiful remixes from our first EP. It features some super talented producers from all around (see below). Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do! We’ll see all of you in the new year. Much love from The Walton Hoax. Download here!
A new long mix to kick off the year from Error Operator. Free download.
Includes the B side to his new single, coming out in February. It’s a lot less straightforwardly downtempo than previously. It’s more R&B influenced in its clicky but slightly pop sounds. Plenty of vocals in the mix, like those of his recent remixes. Seems like his new direction. The new EO track – All Around She – is, after all I’ve said, instrumental. A mix of almost Chinese strings, delicate xylophone and handclaps. Mysterious.
Kicking off 2012, Error Operator has put together an 85 minute mix of music from upcoming producers and artists such as Bwana, Dauwd, iO, George FitzGerald, Disclosure, Damu, Hackman + More. This is an exciting and eclectic mixture of tracks from new talent which is shaping the foreground of electronic music for the future. Also featured is ‘All Around She’, the B-Side taken from the forthcoming single ‘Mstblove’ due for release on earFOOD Recordings on 27th February.
Bwana – Baby, Let Me Finish [Unreleased] Throwing Snow – Un Vingt (Ital Tek Remix) [Snowfall] Unknown – Sicko Cell [Swamp 81] Bwana – You Never Stop [Infinite Machine] Deadboy – Ain’t Gonna Lie [NUMBERS] 123Mrk – Noname [Infinite Machine] Raziek – Love That Thing [Top Billin] Eliphino – Devoted [Somethinksounds] George FitzGerald – Fernwah [Man Make Music] Background Sound – Tude [Unreleased] Groove Theory – Tell Me (George Fitzgerald Remix) [White Label] Disclosure – Blue You [Unreleased] Maribou State – Got Me (Jason Burns Remix) [Fat! Records] Dauwd – What’s There [Pictures Music] Kastle – So You [Silverback Recordings] iO – AFDW [Unreleased] Beacon – Zatelite [Unreleased] Jack Dixon & Rick Grant – Running Man [Man Make Music] Hackman – Agree To Disagree [PTN] Radiohead – Bloom (Jamie xx Remix, Pt. 3) [Ticker Tape] Sepalcure – Breezin [Hotflush Recordings] Damu – Breathless [Keysound Recordings] Lana Del Rey – Video Games (Joy Orbison Remix) [Stranger] Error Operator – All Around She [earFOOD Recordings]
This is the start of a couple of weeks of mainly posts about dnb from the early to mid 90s. It’s not a genre I really know, so there’s nothing organised about the selections. It will be pretty random. It won’t be all the ruffneck stuff with ragga shoutiness. It is more likely to be the jazz influenced tastefulness end of dnb. Sometimes that jazz influence works and sometimes it’s too coffee table.
To start us off, here’s Jazz Juice, which was a collaboration between Alex Reece (see here) and Wax Doctor (Paul Saunders). Both appeared on Goldie’s Metalheadz but this collaboration was released on Precious Materials Records in 1995. Called Detroit but is pretty jazzy, not techno.
You might remember I raved about Pedestrian back in October (here). He’s giving away a new remix for Emeli Sande to start the new year. She looks like Jedward’s little sister. And the track is less pastoral than the last offering. It’s a bit more urban and has a sharpness to it. More clicky IDM stylings included. But it does grow on you with its warped strangeness.
This is part of the “Extra Junk” EP which is a name your own price EP on Bandcamp! 
