Well after reading Hodgson's quite frankly epic description of his choice, I feel a little daunted to be honest. I would say we both love music, but Hodgson old man you seem to love it, or at least describe it with an intensity that I just cant convey.
I found this a little difficult to be honest as albums arent really my thing, I havent had too many seminal musical moments about an album, havent had that many that I absolutely adored and changed the way I thought about anything - it just doesnt happen for me like that. Individual tracks for sure, I mean none of them have been life-changing or made me listen to music differently (djing did that fine) but certainly I can relate to that passionate 'must have' and the times I just played a record to death, but albums, well nah, not so much.
Thankfully however, there have been a few and I literally HAVE to kick off with a duo described by Zane Lowe as having 'a flawless back catalogue' and dammit if he isnt right. I am of course talking about The Chemical Brothers and Im picking their very first album 'Exit Planet Dust'
It is now 18 years since that longplayer came out and it has most certainly stood the test of time. It is an in your face, lets fucking have it, but with some nice chilled bits and getting a bit quirky towards the end vibe, its originality (a consistent hallmark for the chems over the years) made it stand out massively from the crowd. The journos couldnt even pigeonhole it to begin with and came out with the lame 'big beat' moniker so they could talk about the chems and fatboy slim and the prodigy in the same sentence.
Thr brothers are gonna work it out apparently, and that is your first indication that we are not dealing with a normal electronic music album here in 1995. But 'in dust we trust' is where it gets going for me - what a bassline - BOOM ! Have some of that bitches. Then the change down to song of the siren, so original it's obscene - then the change up to 'three little birdies...' try getting that hook out of your head after a listen. And if that wasnt enough, after the pause of 'Fuck up beats', 'Chemical Beats' comes and owns you good and proper - they're still playing that at the peak of their sets now. After that you're just spent and need some chillout, and thankfully the lush deep sounds of 'Chico's Groove' and the comforting female vocal of 'one too many mornings' calms you down. Interestingly, I think the concept for 'Out of Control' from Surrender was born here... relaxed ? Good. Because its time for some lively again with 'Life is Sweet' which turns a little melaancholy for me as the album gets all reflective and moves into the very strangely titled 'Playground for a Wedgeless Firm' where the creativity and originality takes another twist, before ending on the tremendous finality of 'Alive Alone' which like many of the tracks on here is completely unexpected and different to anything you had heard before it.
But thats generally a very good description of what The Chemical Brothers have always been about and why I adore them so much.
One love
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
DHS-LP 01 H
I've had various options going through my head for my addition, but one struck me as being relatively obvious given my passion for the guy's recordings for the last 17 years or so. And especially because people seem to now suddenly be digging him whilst he delivers dub-based house or pure db-step.
I'm choosing Photek's first LP (proper) - Modus Operandi which was released in 1997. He later released "Form & Function" which was a collection of his singles and work which pre-dated MO (tracks that I'd rewind over and over from bootleg/copy tapes from the Blue Note sessions in Hoxton '96 - Loxy, 'Rider, Lemon D, Doc Scott, Dillinja etc). Anyway - the hype around Goldie's "Timeless" was utterly insane when it arrived two years prior, and there is no doubt in my mind that I owe a huge amount to that LP because it genuinely changed my life musically - it intro'd me to what was then termed "intelligent drum n bass". HOWEVER, nothing could really prepare me for Parkes' debut LP in 1997 - I remember reading the build up to it in Wax magazine and getting my kecks in a twist with excitement.... going to Our Price on the Monday morning to buy it, then running into school late for a busines studies 6th form module assessment. I had to know that I had that LP in my bag waiting for me so that when that gruelling 2 hour module finished I could whack it straight into my Dads borrowed (stolen) Technics portable CD player and f*ck off double Geography in the afternoon and go and listen. If you gave me a few weeks I could come up with 10 LP's that truly changed the way I listen to music and , but if you were to ask me, on the spot, for one LP I guarantee it would be this that came to my mind, because the impact was so great that I'll never forget it.
And so to the music itself. I will try and be brief, something I know i'm not good at when it comes to music.
I have listened to this LP twice all the way through recently; Once so that I could formulate words in my mind, reconnect and relive some memories.... Second so that I could try and write something which might make me realise how you might hear it and for me to be retrospectively critical/realistic because this type of music is probably not for either of you entirely (KS - lush d'n'b bukem style = good - big choppy, Metalheadz, aggresive stuff = not really your bag.... RD - never really into d'n'b at all but coming round to the lush stuff last three/four years) I hope in spite of its very niche end user appeal (for want of a much better phrase) you will be able to enjoy all sorts of musical influences within this concept album (make no mistake: that's what it is - hence the little musical themes/continuations which carry througout).... the main thing that struck me as a kid was this incredibly orignal Detroit techno approach to making drum and bass... not only reflected in the amazing sounds and noises (that broken glass in reverse sound; a major theme which is repeated so often it almost just washes over you and becomes part of your psyche for an hour or so) but also the intensity of the production... the beats are RIDCIULOUS - they are crisp beyond anything I'm yet to hear (which is what i was trying to relay when i wrote my 'short' piece about "Rings around Saturn" which Spot has failed to secure rights to) the production MUST have been completely painstaking but the reward to the listener is huge:- I found it, still find it, all encompassing and absorbing. I do accept however (only recently after conversations with you two, either in person or on email) that I might be a bit odd/different in my taste/listening patterns/response to music - so I will totally accept if your ears don't get into this album.... for me it is an oasis, a nirvana otherwise unknown (apart from his other early 12"/singles such as Rings / UFO/Knightvision etc).... I can honestly say that after all these years if I leave this LP alone for 6 months, go back and listen to it, I feel like I'm listening to something new.... how many albums can you say that about? It must be mentioned actually, that not all of this is large sounding tearup drum and bass - heavy duty tracks feature and do a superb job, but the defining moments are predominantly the non jump up d-n-b tracks .... the thoughtful openener "Hidden Camera", eerie echoey breaks "Minotaur" ; "124" is so Detroit it might as well have been written by May, Mills, Pullen, Craig & Saunderson (but it wouldnt have sounded as good); and in fact the track before it "Aleph 1" is essentially a massive breakbeat techno track.....hugely sad is the loss of the title track from Spot - a tune which I included on DHS1 many moons ago (lush jazz piano over double-bass silkyness and hip hop beats - absolutely class - a modern master class in programming in fact). Axiom I think is the one you will struggle with, but even then when he introduces the noir string section I struggle not to be amazed....
MO might all just be a bit too beardy weirdy for you but I don't know of any album which remotely makes me think - oh yeah; this reminds me of Photek's first LP - no one's even come close to it....
If this LP poses one question for me, it is simply this:
"Who else do you know who can make beats like Photek?"
I hope you can enjoy at least some of this album.
H
I'm choosing Photek's first LP (proper) - Modus Operandi which was released in 1997. He later released "Form & Function" which was a collection of his singles and work which pre-dated MO (tracks that I'd rewind over and over from bootleg/copy tapes from the Blue Note sessions in Hoxton '96 - Loxy, 'Rider, Lemon D, Doc Scott, Dillinja etc). Anyway - the hype around Goldie's "Timeless" was utterly insane when it arrived two years prior, and there is no doubt in my mind that I owe a huge amount to that LP because it genuinely changed my life musically - it intro'd me to what was then termed "intelligent drum n bass". HOWEVER, nothing could really prepare me for Parkes' debut LP in 1997 - I remember reading the build up to it in Wax magazine and getting my kecks in a twist with excitement.... going to Our Price on the Monday morning to buy it, then running into school late for a busines studies 6th form module assessment. I had to know that I had that LP in my bag waiting for me so that when that gruelling 2 hour module finished I could whack it straight into my Dads borrowed (stolen) Technics portable CD player and f*ck off double Geography in the afternoon and go and listen. If you gave me a few weeks I could come up with 10 LP's that truly changed the way I listen to music and , but if you were to ask me, on the spot, for one LP I guarantee it would be this that came to my mind, because the impact was so great that I'll never forget it.
And so to the music itself. I will try and be brief, something I know i'm not good at when it comes to music.
I have listened to this LP twice all the way through recently; Once so that I could formulate words in my mind, reconnect and relive some memories.... Second so that I could try and write something which might make me realise how you might hear it and for me to be retrospectively critical/realistic because this type of music is probably not for either of you entirely (KS - lush d'n'b bukem style = good - big choppy, Metalheadz, aggresive stuff = not really your bag.... RD - never really into d'n'b at all but coming round to the lush stuff last three/four years) I hope in spite of its very niche end user appeal (for want of a much better phrase) you will be able to enjoy all sorts of musical influences within this concept album (make no mistake: that's what it is - hence the little musical themes/continuations which carry througout).... the main thing that struck me as a kid was this incredibly orignal Detroit techno approach to making drum and bass... not only reflected in the amazing sounds and noises (that broken glass in reverse sound; a major theme which is repeated so often it almost just washes over you and becomes part of your psyche for an hour or so) but also the intensity of the production... the beats are RIDCIULOUS - they are crisp beyond anything I'm yet to hear (which is what i was trying to relay when i wrote my 'short' piece about "Rings around Saturn" which Spot has failed to secure rights to) the production MUST have been completely painstaking but the reward to the listener is huge:- I found it, still find it, all encompassing and absorbing. I do accept however (only recently after conversations with you two, either in person or on email) that I might be a bit odd/different in my taste/listening patterns/response to music - so I will totally accept if your ears don't get into this album.... for me it is an oasis, a nirvana otherwise unknown (apart from his other early 12"/singles such as Rings / UFO/Knightvision etc).... I can honestly say that after all these years if I leave this LP alone for 6 months, go back and listen to it, I feel like I'm listening to something new.... how many albums can you say that about? It must be mentioned actually, that not all of this is large sounding tearup drum and bass - heavy duty tracks feature and do a superb job, but the defining moments are predominantly the non jump up d-n-b tracks .... the thoughtful openener "Hidden Camera", eerie echoey breaks "Minotaur" ; "124" is so Detroit it might as well have been written by May, Mills, Pullen, Craig & Saunderson (but it wouldnt have sounded as good); and in fact the track before it "Aleph 1" is essentially a massive breakbeat techno track.....hugely sad is the loss of the title track from Spot - a tune which I included on DHS1 many moons ago (lush jazz piano over double-bass silkyness and hip hop beats - absolutely class - a modern master class in programming in fact). Axiom I think is the one you will struggle with, but even then when he introduces the noir string section I struggle not to be amazed....
MO might all just be a bit too beardy weirdy for you but I don't know of any album which remotely makes me think - oh yeah; this reminds me of Photek's first LP - no one's even come close to it....
If this LP poses one question for me, it is simply this:
"Who else do you know who can make beats like Photek?"
I hope you can enjoy at least some of this album.
H
Monday, 28 January 2013
DHS 11 -Part 2 (H)
Happy new year Gentlemen.
D you wrapped up #10...
IT - never heard anything quite like this guy - absolutely brutal - a proper mic wrecker.
Guy J rmx - great remix - qaulity production on the bass.
MJ Nero rmx - not really feelin' this one I'm afraid. (Never liked original either!)
Emeli - loved this kid first time I heard her voice on radio.... easily my favourite newcomer from the UK pop scene of late. Check out her version of Lennon's "imagine".... Wow.
SR ( ) 3. No need to comment - straight onto Best Of, no questions asked.
S you opened up #11...
Hashim - proper, proper classic.... testament to your statement KS:- This got hammered at the NY Sushi Bikeshed HipHop nights at the Unit in Sheffield (c.98/99). Always got a massive cheer.
Newcleus - new to me - like it a lot, very quirky and nowhere near as commercial as the one in my 'potentials' list which is later referenced in your last track!
I.S - least fave of the five but still good to hear new tunes....Now I know you more I know exactly why this is a bit of you.... if I heard it anywhere I'd be putting your name on it. It's like Bowie vs The Cure vs Kraftwerk vs 80's electro.... the more i listen to it the more i like it.....In fact I'm convinced I'll end up adding it to a list of my own!
Parrish - hehehehe saves me a job :)
Steinski - :) Errrrm also saves me a job!!!!!
Apologies for my delay - my update on here and on DropBox are essentially interlinked, so here's a selection of some of my fave's from 2012...
Clark - Zabiela's final track from that mix I recently emailed over. Proper lush and highly addictive.
Goth-Trad - kind of an exorcism of sorts.... mate sent me a dubstep mix to listen to and this is track one.... can't get it out of my brain...f-cking eerie - wicked production and mood.
AES DANA - Warren kicked off a mix with this last year and it's one of those tunes which just builds nicely and has a great depth to it. It kind of reminds me of Sasha's production on ADD and Stephen W (ES Waves).
Chilly Gonzales remake - Chilly just letting rip on a piano and making a tacky, repetitive, gameboy sounding electro tune sound inspiring. Highly addictive - great in the car going fast.
Burridge - one thing this guy can do very well is make records sound very lovely and clean.... no better example than this beautiful record here. Dreamy, techy with superb mixture of understated tubular melodies and soaring drawn-out strings... Lush.....as for the title: not sure why they went for German, but I certainly understand the sentiment of labelling a track "For the love".
Onto my next two musc tasks - probably tomorrow night now...
KOKO,
H
D you wrapped up #10...
IT - never heard anything quite like this guy - absolutely brutal - a proper mic wrecker.
Guy J rmx - great remix - qaulity production on the bass.
MJ Nero rmx - not really feelin' this one I'm afraid. (Never liked original either!)
Emeli - loved this kid first time I heard her voice on radio.... easily my favourite newcomer from the UK pop scene of late. Check out her version of Lennon's "imagine".... Wow.
SR ( ) 3. No need to comment - straight onto Best Of, no questions asked.
S you opened up #11...
Hashim - proper, proper classic.... testament to your statement KS:- This got hammered at the NY Sushi Bikeshed HipHop nights at the Unit in Sheffield (c.98/99). Always got a massive cheer.
Newcleus - new to me - like it a lot, very quirky and nowhere near as commercial as the one in my 'potentials' list which is later referenced in your last track!
I.S - least fave of the five but still good to hear new tunes....Now I know you more I know exactly why this is a bit of you.... if I heard it anywhere I'd be putting your name on it. It's like Bowie vs The Cure vs Kraftwerk vs 80's electro.... the more i listen to it the more i like it.....In fact I'm convinced I'll end up adding it to a list of my own!
Parrish - hehehehe saves me a job :)
Steinski - :) Errrrm also saves me a job!!!!!
Apologies for my delay - my update on here and on DropBox are essentially interlinked, so here's a selection of some of my fave's from 2012...
Clark - Zabiela's final track from that mix I recently emailed over. Proper lush and highly addictive.
Goth-Trad - kind of an exorcism of sorts.... mate sent me a dubstep mix to listen to and this is track one.... can't get it out of my brain...f-cking eerie - wicked production and mood.
AES DANA - Warren kicked off a mix with this last year and it's one of those tunes which just builds nicely and has a great depth to it. It kind of reminds me of Sasha's production on ADD and Stephen W (ES Waves).
Chilly Gonzales remake - Chilly just letting rip on a piano and making a tacky, repetitive, gameboy sounding electro tune sound inspiring. Highly addictive - great in the car going fast.
Burridge - one thing this guy can do very well is make records sound very lovely and clean.... no better example than this beautiful record here. Dreamy, techy with superb mixture of understated tubular melodies and soaring drawn-out strings... Lush.....as for the title: not sure why they went for German, but I certainly understand the sentiment of labelling a track "For the love".
Onto my next two musc tasks - probably tomorrow night now...
KOKO,
H
Thursday, 3 January 2013
DHS-LP - Open for business...
Ok Chaps - happy new year - here we go...
The DHS-LP folder is now open (link to follow separately) and will remain so until 1st February - within that time you simply need to choose an album and deposit it, in its entirety, in the folder.
I've kicked it off with;
Interpol - Antics
In somewhat typical fashion I was given a copy of this in 2004 by a bloke at work who raved about it whilst I simply wasn't interested, so I sat on it for ages. And ages. In fact, around that time, a bunch of people from work organised tickets to go and see Coldplay playing Crystal Palace arena one evening - I got roped in and actively persuaded everyone to stay in the pub for another drink or two when a couple of them wanted to go and see the support band playing their latest album - thanks to me we all turned up just as Interpol were being massively applauded off stage. Then the CD I'd been given surfaced a couple of years later one rainy summer's afternoon when I was 'working from home' - I played it and was, once again, humbled. Mightily humbled.
There's nothing about it that I should like really and yet I absolutely adore every last single second of it. One of those very rare instances where every single damn track on the album is just as good as all the others. Lyrically it's always been far too dense for me to penetrate - but that has never once bothered me. Musically I'm at a bit of a loss to describe it - this sort of thing isn't usually my style so I'm limited in terms of comparisons - in fact, I'm not going to bother - if you've not heard it before then click and see what you think.
Right up there in my all-time favourite albums and one of the best 'driving-fast-alone-in-the-car-'singing'-very-loudly-albums' ever.
S
The DHS-LP folder is now open (link to follow separately) and will remain so until 1st February - within that time you simply need to choose an album and deposit it, in its entirety, in the folder.
I've kicked it off with;
Interpol - Antics
In somewhat typical fashion I was given a copy of this in 2004 by a bloke at work who raved about it whilst I simply wasn't interested, so I sat on it for ages. And ages. In fact, around that time, a bunch of people from work organised tickets to go and see Coldplay playing Crystal Palace arena one evening - I got roped in and actively persuaded everyone to stay in the pub for another drink or two when a couple of them wanted to go and see the support band playing their latest album - thanks to me we all turned up just as Interpol were being massively applauded off stage. Then the CD I'd been given surfaced a couple of years later one rainy summer's afternoon when I was 'working from home' - I played it and was, once again, humbled. Mightily humbled.
There's nothing about it that I should like really and yet I absolutely adore every last single second of it. One of those very rare instances where every single damn track on the album is just as good as all the others. Lyrically it's always been far too dense for me to penetrate - but that has never once bothered me. Musically I'm at a bit of a loss to describe it - this sort of thing isn't usually my style so I'm limited in terms of comparisons - in fact, I'm not going to bother - if you've not heard it before then click and see what you think.
Right up there in my all-time favourite albums and one of the best 'driving-fast-alone-in-the-car-'singing'-very-loudly-albums' ever.
S
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