Evening all, my first DHS update since I flew 4500 miles away and ascended a further 5000 feet, but more of that elsewhere. Suffice to say its good to be back, and the wonder that is DHS got me through a couple of 17 hour journeys through Abu Dhabi and beyond - good work chaps.
So lets review the previous 10, starting with Sully and his Todd Terry tribute. 'A Day in the Life' is simply a seminal club tune, a little date now perhaps, but everyone who was into house fromt he beginning is familiar with this one - a worthy addition to DHS. 'Dreams of Santa Anna' possibly less so, and this one with a nice tune I found ok, although what struck me was the intensity of TT's work, there is so much going on in a lot his records, particularly the early stuff, no doubt as he honed his sound. Talking of seminal records, they dont come more so than 'Can you party' with its iconic samples and this one one of the first house tracks for me back in 1989 - way ahead of its time and the protagonist for many a drug fuelled rave. Classic. Im not Bjorks biggest fan and so 'Hyperballad' was always going to struggle with me, although the production is good and you can hear TT had now moved to a more refined production style, which oozes quality. None more so than on the enormous remix of EBTG's 'Missing' which is a great record, nice strings, nice vocal but I detest the lyrics - SO depressing !! Great production which made this a club smash at the time. Great work Sully, a fitting tribute to the Toddster.
Hodge, kicking off with 'Got a reason' which Im not 100% sure on to be honest, have gone through periods of liking it more than other times. Nice strings which always get me, particularly later on, just not sure about the vocal. I think I do like it, but something just doesnt quite fit properly. 'Slum Room' however, is a really nice tune for me. Great understated build and a lovely melody that comes into its own in the second half. Nice. 'Its Only' has a cracking vocal on it, although the melancholic feel of it overall makes me unlikely to play it much, nice minimal use of the piano though, perfectly accompanying the voice, and a well produced, balanced track - love the major key changes. '44' however is a track that could have been more for me - it all gets very intense and there is the hint of a melody in there but im not sure it really works. You could have condensed all this into 1 minute of a bigger track and it would have worked really well I think. Not so sure on its own, but ite certainly original. 'Rainmaker' is clearly the sample for the immense 'Raincry' and its quite a powerful record once it gets going, really quite liked this one. Top work Hodge.
My first track today is from the early contender from film of the year which I saw today - 'The Place Beyond the Pines' which is a truly stunning and unexpected film, that doesnt go where you think it will and has top performances from Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes. There was a piece of music in it so amazing that immediately afterwards I hunted it down and here it is 'Snow Angel' by Mike Patton. Its very short and goes to shit after about 53 seconds, but I just HAD to share the minute of bliss, its immense. The best use of it is in the second half of the trailer for the film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G07pSbHLXgg
On the subject of films, my next 2 whoch are in trailer #2 for 'Man of Steel' which I CANNOT wait for, as it looks immense and these 2 tunes have been put together to good affect on the trailer, firstly 'Elegy' by Lisa Gerrard who has a fair set of pipes on her, and then 'Armstrong: Storm' by Craig Armstrong - both epic pieces of music i hope you'll agree. Next up is a classic for which very little needs to be said 'Sweet Dreams' by the Eurythmics and Im finishing on a stone cold classic which came out int he year I was born and as Im celebrating my 40th birthday this month I thought it fitting, and thats 'Walk on the Wild Side' by Lou Reed. Enjoy.
One Love
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