My apologies for my terrible tardiness at getting onto this great idea. I have learnt the error of my ways and will now bring it all up to date...
Interpol - can see why it's a favourite singalong album, it was enjoyable enough although indie/rock albums have to be pretty special for me to really like them and this one didn't grab me - agree with Hodge that after a while you do crave something different. I have a similar fave album which if I didn't like I'd think the same about so totally get the singalong vibe. Music is so often about the environment when/where you heard it and maybe that's a factor here.
Photek - not the sort of thing I would normally listen to and on reflection I think there are only 2 situations it would appeal - either last thing at night to get you to sleep, or driving late at night. Definitely makes more sense against a backdrop of darkness, but is subtle to the point of being sparse to these ears. No warm analog sound, very little basslines and even fewer melodies give this a post-apocalyptic industrial feel for me, all concrete and metal. The title track was the best of the lot for me but none of it comes anywhere close to the remix of 'lie down in darkness' which is a shame.
The Jam - again not my normal fare, and I have considered how much music I like that was around before I got into music properly, and it's not much. Some soul and disco mostly. However this is very enjoyable, Weller has a good voice and it wasn't as punk-influenced as I was expecting, which is all very fast beats and shouting as far as i can tell - thankfully this was far from that. Must have heard some of these before I guess but none I recall. Some really good tracks on here, well arranged and delivered with edge that makes it more listenable than say Interpol. Must have been massive when it came out. And Kingston Rifles has quite a bassline.
Dubnobass - I have never heard this album before. Seriously. The first thing that struck me is how good the 'dark train' version of dark and long is when you start from the version on here, which is also good. I imagine if you'd only heard this one then heard the remix you would be even more impressed than I was just judging it on its own merits. Also the Essex roots of these boys really comes out. I think Underworld see everyday things in an unconventional way and that helps make them different, and better. Skyscraper & DaL are both examples of this. Found this to be a very good album, surf boy is nice as is dirty epic which is certainly epic - especially loving the piano that comes in towards the end. Cowgirl is of course ace (even if the bedrock remix takes it to a new level). M.E. is a nice closer too - good album.
Richter is an interesting choice, I think it could well be the first classical album I've ever listened to (on the way home from Bath today) and so therefore have no immediate frame of reference. However music is music regardless of genre and can inspire the same feelings and emotions no matter what. It is certainly very emotive music, sometimes mournful, sometimes aggressive but always powerful and open to so much interpretation I think - will be different things to different people. I really enjoyed it and can see very obvious comparisons with dance music, certainly the pop end of it as the big parts are very immediate without too much build up. Easy to see why you rate this so highly Hodge, although as you were raised on this sort of music it would have more of an impact on you than it could on me because, like i said, i have no frame of reference but I really like it too - i even think he saved the best track to last. Excellent shout. This will be getting repeat listens.
I thought quite a bit about what album I should put up next, something that meant a lot personally to me and was firmly fixed in my roots was the order of the day I felt, and I went back to the very beginning, the album that left an indelible mark on me aged 10 years old. Now there have been other albums that maybe had more of an effect (at the time) in my formative years, like for example Bad by Michael Jackson, Bigger & Deffer by LLCoolJ, License to Ill by the Beastie Boys or Born in the USA by the Boss - all of which may appear here at some point, but nothing has lasted for me like this one. So its the album that first got me interested in music and indeed blew the world away - I am of course talking about Thriller by Michael Jackson.
After Jackson only received 1 grammy for 'Off the Wall' he stated that the next record he made would be the greatest album in music history. That's entirely subjective and up for huge debate, and I would even say is impossible to ever truly decide because different records mean different things to different people at different times. However that drive and hunger, coupled with the dream team of Jacksons undoubted singing and dancing talent and Quincy Jones' production genius created the biggest selling album of all time with estimates anywhere between 50 and 110 million copies sold. Lets think about that for a minute - 50,000,000 units of anything is a very big amount indeed.
The production of the record is so slick it could make me weep with its perfectionism - it's as if every note, every beat has been deliberately placed in the most optimal position for that track and indeed the record overall. The word genius is recklessly used and is rarely true, however this album is clearly a work of genius and that is why it is rightly the biggest selling album of all time.
Thriller is a devastating combination of talent, skill, audio and visual. An album so good that it changed the entire landscape of pop music. From the raw energy of 'Wanna be Startin' something' there is funk and soul dripping from every track - even with the almost twee 'the girl is mine' a little crowbarred in. To then have 3 of the biggest records of the decade and indeed in history one after each other on the same album is a feat that has never been matched. Thriller is a cracking track in its own right - original, creative and with a killer hook and juicy bassline. Throw in that video that aired on prime time national tv and suddenly everyone knew what was possible in a music video. Next up was Beat It and a guitar solo from Eddie Van Halen that won 'guitar solo of the decade' (whatever that means) and came with another video, also inspired by film. If that wasn't enough the 3rd track is the single greatest bassline in dance music history and a beat that personally I find impossible not to dance to. Another iconic video and a performance at the Motown 25th Anniversary show that blew everyone away and introduced 'the moonwalk' to popular culture.
Often copied, never bettered, Michael Jackson became the first black artist to have a video played on MTV and the mark he left on music history is as big if not bigger than any other recording artist. Aged 10 I simply could not have not liked it - I have no doubt I'll still be enjoying it in another 30 years, and this is my entry into the DHS-LP pantheon.
One love
Monday, 27 January 2014
Wednesday, 15 January 2014
DHS-LP 03 (H)
Well, lots of time has passed and sadly I failed to add an album in the last round so I will tackle everything in chronological order:-
S - Interpolantics
I have given this several full listens now (and some half listens when it came out, most notably on a journey up the motorway in a mates car). Anyway, the last time I played it was the end of last year and sadly it's not one I think I will revisit in full. Something about the lead singers voice grates on me - there were plenty similar at the time (I'm mainly thinking the Bravery here, again good in small doses); I get through the first half of the LP quite easily (NARC, Take you on a cruise and Slow Hands is a solid little back-to-back trio) but after Public Pervert I find myself starting to want other noises to listen to, which is a great shame because I very much like the final tune (you need to be in the right frame of mind for it I think) and it is one I am happy to go and listen to as a standalone track. Can't remember if we're rating these - seem to remember some scores on ten first time round; so - 6/10.
D - Exit Planet Dust
I don't really need to say a great deal here because I'm openly a big fan of this record and have added one of my all time faves of theirs in our main lists (One too many mornings.... one of the lushest electronica records I'd ever heard when it came out and it still has huge appeal now..... Chico's Groove is also very lovely in the same vein). I think it is far easier for me to state the disappointment in the penultimate two tunes... Life is Sweet is not great for my money and Playground For a Wedgeless Firm is simply poo, can't dig it at all. Fortunately they finish on Alive Alone which is a droning warm acidy trip which has some really lovely production considering the era. 8/10.
S - Setting Sons
To be truthful I didn't properly get into the Jam until I went to uni and a flatmate just hit me up consistently almost everyday with The Smiths and The Jam. I had of course heard and loved the BIG singles, In The City; Down In The Tube Station At Midnight; Eton Rifles, That's Entertainment which I still think are some of the most important and influential social comment pop records that have been released in the UK (in the late 90's and throughout the 00's we had so many virtual copycat bands (in terms of format, comment and content) so numerous that I cannot even begin to list them - it almost became depressing - not one of them came within a country mile of what Weller managed). Anyway - this is another of those LP's that I know but haven't ever really listened to all the way through unless by accident at uni as it's nice to revisit it fully from top to bottom. This, I think is the most solid LP we've had on thus far.... there is only one minor, and I do emphasise minor, dip; Wasteland - and it's almost ludicrous mentioning it because musically it is superb it's just that everything else outstrips it lyrically in my opinion. I am not a fan of the Heatwave cover because I think of the original as really quite sacred, that said I do understand why Weller did it and his move into blues-ier territory was a bold step when he made it. Slight hijack:- I have to say here, in case we never get another stab at The Jam on the LP front (which we may not if we're trying to vary it up a bit) that one of my favourite tunes they ever released was English Rose.... very much off-kilter compared to their more well known jumpier, punk-infused efforts but it's just a beautiful love song - I'm not big into schmaltzy when it comes to songs but this is pristinely crafted and beyond reproach in its delivery. 8.5/10
I will save my comments for Dubno.... at the next interval which is July if memory serves.
VIVALDI - THE FOUR SEASONS - RECOMPOSED BY MAX RICHTER
I do not wish to bang on too much about this album because it might seem too self-indulged. I found it purely by accident and it is one of my most treasured finds of the last decade I would say. I am a HUGE fan of Vivaldi's original (safe to say I was essentially raised on Vivaldi's Four-Seasons, Mozart and Beethoven) but this epic re-envisioned, modern take has totally blown me away with its scope (even in spite of its lack of distance in terms of running time!). You will, if you know the work, recognise much of the melodic phrasing - however there are some totally new sounding interpretations and some which really throw you off-track whilst still pulling you in with their familiarity. The main pull for me on this LP is the modern composers touch with long drawn-out, driving melodies underneath the main phrases... it is for want of a better analogy Vivaldi for the electronic generation. Some of my reactions (hairs on end - prickly neck syndrome) to certain pieces have been akin to that of hearing an absolute belter of a deep melodic house track. I may be alone with that reaction but I had to share this one on here...it's already very important to me and I'm shocked at how much so seeing as if someone had said to me "Ok, we're gonna take Vivaldi's Four Seasons and re-imagine it with a modern touch...." I would have categorically told them, in two words, where to go. My only criticism of this record is that it is just so phenomenally short at 45 mins but it is so perfectly and considerately put together that I can just about forgive it this shortcoming... sometimes I just want tracks to be twice the length but all I end up doing is playing the whole LP back to back to quench my thirst. I hope you enjoy one or two even if you don't know the original or like classical music.
H
S - Interpolantics
I have given this several full listens now (and some half listens when it came out, most notably on a journey up the motorway in a mates car). Anyway, the last time I played it was the end of last year and sadly it's not one I think I will revisit in full. Something about the lead singers voice grates on me - there were plenty similar at the time (I'm mainly thinking the Bravery here, again good in small doses); I get through the first half of the LP quite easily (NARC, Take you on a cruise and Slow Hands is a solid little back-to-back trio) but after Public Pervert I find myself starting to want other noises to listen to, which is a great shame because I very much like the final tune (you need to be in the right frame of mind for it I think) and it is one I am happy to go and listen to as a standalone track. Can't remember if we're rating these - seem to remember some scores on ten first time round; so - 6/10.
D - Exit Planet Dust
I don't really need to say a great deal here because I'm openly a big fan of this record and have added one of my all time faves of theirs in our main lists (One too many mornings.... one of the lushest electronica records I'd ever heard when it came out and it still has huge appeal now..... Chico's Groove is also very lovely in the same vein). I think it is far easier for me to state the disappointment in the penultimate two tunes... Life is Sweet is not great for my money and Playground For a Wedgeless Firm is simply poo, can't dig it at all. Fortunately they finish on Alive Alone which is a droning warm acidy trip which has some really lovely production considering the era. 8/10.
S - Setting Sons
To be truthful I didn't properly get into the Jam until I went to uni and a flatmate just hit me up consistently almost everyday with The Smiths and The Jam. I had of course heard and loved the BIG singles, In The City; Down In The Tube Station At Midnight; Eton Rifles, That's Entertainment which I still think are some of the most important and influential social comment pop records that have been released in the UK (in the late 90's and throughout the 00's we had so many virtual copycat bands (in terms of format, comment and content) so numerous that I cannot even begin to list them - it almost became depressing - not one of them came within a country mile of what Weller managed). Anyway - this is another of those LP's that I know but haven't ever really listened to all the way through unless by accident at uni as it's nice to revisit it fully from top to bottom. This, I think is the most solid LP we've had on thus far.... there is only one minor, and I do emphasise minor, dip; Wasteland - and it's almost ludicrous mentioning it because musically it is superb it's just that everything else outstrips it lyrically in my opinion. I am not a fan of the Heatwave cover because I think of the original as really quite sacred, that said I do understand why Weller did it and his move into blues-ier territory was a bold step when he made it. Slight hijack:- I have to say here, in case we never get another stab at The Jam on the LP front (which we may not if we're trying to vary it up a bit) that one of my favourite tunes they ever released was English Rose.... very much off-kilter compared to their more well known jumpier, punk-infused efforts but it's just a beautiful love song - I'm not big into schmaltzy when it comes to songs but this is pristinely crafted and beyond reproach in its delivery. 8.5/10
I will save my comments for Dubno.... at the next interval which is July if memory serves.
VIVALDI - THE FOUR SEASONS - RECOMPOSED BY MAX RICHTER
I do not wish to bang on too much about this album because it might seem too self-indulged. I found it purely by accident and it is one of my most treasured finds of the last decade I would say. I am a HUGE fan of Vivaldi's original (safe to say I was essentially raised on Vivaldi's Four-Seasons, Mozart and Beethoven) but this epic re-envisioned, modern take has totally blown me away with its scope (even in spite of its lack of distance in terms of running time!). You will, if you know the work, recognise much of the melodic phrasing - however there are some totally new sounding interpretations and some which really throw you off-track whilst still pulling you in with their familiarity. The main pull for me on this LP is the modern composers touch with long drawn-out, driving melodies underneath the main phrases... it is for want of a better analogy Vivaldi for the electronic generation. Some of my reactions (hairs on end - prickly neck syndrome) to certain pieces have been akin to that of hearing an absolute belter of a deep melodic house track. I may be alone with that reaction but I had to share this one on here...it's already very important to me and I'm shocked at how much so seeing as if someone had said to me "Ok, we're gonna take Vivaldi's Four Seasons and re-imagine it with a modern touch...." I would have categorically told them, in two words, where to go. My only criticism of this record is that it is just so phenomenally short at 45 mins but it is so perfectly and considerately put together that I can just about forgive it this shortcoming... sometimes I just want tracks to be twice the length but all I end up doing is playing the whole LP back to back to quench my thirst. I hope you enjoy one or two even if you don't know the original or like classical music.
H
Thursday, 9 January 2014
DHS 12 - Part 4 (S)
H
Pachelbel's Canon - (is it pronounced Packelbel or Pashelbel - I've never known?!) help yourself to another point for picking something on one of our lists, i.e. mine! A classic bit of classical music which I've long loved and listened to. And take another bonus point for the long overdue inclusion of any piece of classical music.
Love Sensation - no surprise here but that gets two huge thumbs up from me - this original simply reeks class but I'm more than happy to admit to also liking (and playing out) the Freemason's Remix - there's also a rather lovely ambient 'Angel Love' mix too.
These Waves - great tune - two more thumbs up - probably the record more than any of the others that proved that Disc 1 of NE1 was greater than the sum of its (albeit considerable) parts. This track has classic status, and rightly so, but it was standing on the shoulders of (and sandwiched beautifully between) Cascade and Raincry.
Sugarhigh - of this selection this was the one I didn't immediately know - I certainly don't recall ever having heard it at Bedrock and, after several listens, I'm still not sure I'd ever heard it before anywhere! On the one hand I'm not surprised 'cos I really wasn't BIG into this kind of sound 13 years ago but, you know what, this is a TUNE. Would definitely play it and will be procuring with a view to doing just that.
Last Rhythm - for anybody to suggest that this isn't a 'true classic' is to suggest there is no such thing as a 'true classic' house record - clearly there are and equally clearly this is one of them. Fitting enough, for me anyway, that this appears on this list courtesy of a Hacienda Classics compilation 'cos that's exactly where I was when I first heard this (albeit it that the VERY first time I heard it it was the 'Original Battle Vocal Mix' - which astonishingly is also on Spotify - then, later that same night, this version was played). I left Manchester that weekend with a (VERY) precious TDK that a fella up there mixed for me - umpteen classic tunes (a few of which were, Drug Fits The Face, Papua New Guinea, Appolonia, Rabbit City, Hoomba Hoomba and, of course, Last Rhythm) - battered it but still have it to this day. This tune is another that has been subject to untold remixes - pretty much heard all of them, bought loads of them but it's no surprise that the best one of the lot is the one that sticks most closely to this mix - the Martijn ten Velden remix - more of a sympathetic update than a fully overhauled remix and I played it out several times in Clapham and it was guaranteed a big, positive, response. Definitely one of those bedrock tunes (no capital 'B' - original definition of the word) on which so much that has come after has been based and a more than worthy selection for our 1000th tune.
D
The Natura Sonoris selection
Dosem - great little mood-setter/mix-starter - sort of thing Sasha might well have used early on for his GU San Francisco mix if it'd had been around
Kitkalitto - nice enough
Hal Incandeza - again, nice enough
Henry Saiz - not sure if your reference to the 'tune which has been taken from somewhere which I just can't place' was slightly tongue in cheek or not but, on the basis that it was genuine, it's 'Good Vibrations' by The Beach Boys - pick of this bunch
Underworld - hadn't heard this 'edit' before and having done so now I'd rather you'd have had us 'make do' with the full length original but nonetheless it's a more than worthy inclusion. It was your selection of this that tangentially sparked me off and resulted in my submission of
'Dubnobasswithmyheadman' as my DHS-LP selection earlier this week. I must have realised before, but if not certainly did so again this week, that this shares (most of its) title with a very different track from that album - and then I was listening to the album AGAIN, and now it's on DHS-LP.
And now S;
For this selection, and in order to save some time for those of us who 'listen to the other's selections more than once to really get a feel for them', *wink* I have ditched my previously selected next batch, put my possible selections list into ascending time order and picked five of the shortest. So, on the plus side, not much time needed to work through them but, on the other hand, it does mean some more Northern Soul. Still, as the old saying goes, every silver lining has a cloud eh...
Judy Street - simple - classic.
Mama Cass - rather lovely hangover from my time with Samantha - one of her favourite records and on my possibles list for almost three years
John Edwards - I have no recollection of when or how I first heard this but, oh my, am I glad I did
Gary Numan - this sounds so energetic, vibrant and immense now that I cannot imagine how on earth it sounded to people when it was released in 1979. Numan got 'synth-pop' into the charts pretty much before anybody else and is a massively under appreciated influence on the last 35 years. And he's still going...
When In Rome - bought for me on 12" by my then girlfriend this was very much a 'guilty pleasure' back in '88 when it was supposed to be all about hip-hop, funk and early house stuff - but I (quietly) loved this then and still do now - only in the last couple of years have I come to understand it's one of many widely loved euro/italo-pop style anthems from the time.
S
x
Pachelbel's Canon - (is it pronounced Packelbel or Pashelbel - I've never known?!) help yourself to another point for picking something on one of our lists, i.e. mine! A classic bit of classical music which I've long loved and listened to. And take another bonus point for the long overdue inclusion of any piece of classical music.
Love Sensation - no surprise here but that gets two huge thumbs up from me - this original simply reeks class but I'm more than happy to admit to also liking (and playing out) the Freemason's Remix - there's also a rather lovely ambient 'Angel Love' mix too.
These Waves - great tune - two more thumbs up - probably the record more than any of the others that proved that Disc 1 of NE1 was greater than the sum of its (albeit considerable) parts. This track has classic status, and rightly so, but it was standing on the shoulders of (and sandwiched beautifully between) Cascade and Raincry.
Sugarhigh - of this selection this was the one I didn't immediately know - I certainly don't recall ever having heard it at Bedrock and, after several listens, I'm still not sure I'd ever heard it before anywhere! On the one hand I'm not surprised 'cos I really wasn't BIG into this kind of sound 13 years ago but, you know what, this is a TUNE. Would definitely play it and will be procuring with a view to doing just that.
Last Rhythm - for anybody to suggest that this isn't a 'true classic' is to suggest there is no such thing as a 'true classic' house record - clearly there are and equally clearly this is one of them. Fitting enough, for me anyway, that this appears on this list courtesy of a Hacienda Classics compilation 'cos that's exactly where I was when I first heard this (albeit it that the VERY first time I heard it it was the 'Original Battle Vocal Mix' - which astonishingly is also on Spotify - then, later that same night, this version was played). I left Manchester that weekend with a (VERY) precious TDK that a fella up there mixed for me - umpteen classic tunes (a few of which were, Drug Fits The Face, Papua New Guinea, Appolonia, Rabbit City, Hoomba Hoomba and, of course, Last Rhythm) - battered it but still have it to this day. This tune is another that has been subject to untold remixes - pretty much heard all of them, bought loads of them but it's no surprise that the best one of the lot is the one that sticks most closely to this mix - the Martijn ten Velden remix - more of a sympathetic update than a fully overhauled remix and I played it out several times in Clapham and it was guaranteed a big, positive, response. Definitely one of those bedrock tunes (no capital 'B' - original definition of the word) on which so much that has come after has been based and a more than worthy selection for our 1000th tune.
D
The Natura Sonoris selection
Dosem - great little mood-setter/mix-starter - sort of thing Sasha might well have used early on for his GU San Francisco mix if it'd had been around
Kitkalitto - nice enough
Hal Incandeza - again, nice enough
Henry Saiz - not sure if your reference to the 'tune which has been taken from somewhere which I just can't place' was slightly tongue in cheek or not but, on the basis that it was genuine, it's 'Good Vibrations' by The Beach Boys - pick of this bunch
Underworld - hadn't heard this 'edit' before and having done so now I'd rather you'd have had us 'make do' with the full length original but nonetheless it's a more than worthy inclusion. It was your selection of this that tangentially sparked me off and resulted in my submission of
'Dubnobasswithmyheadman' as my DHS-LP selection earlier this week. I must have realised before, but if not certainly did so again this week, that this shares (most of its) title with a very different track from that album - and then I was listening to the album AGAIN, and now it's on DHS-LP.
And now S;
For this selection, and in order to save some time for those of us who 'listen to the other's selections more than once to really get a feel for them', *wink* I have ditched my previously selected next batch, put my possible selections list into ascending time order and picked five of the shortest. So, on the plus side, not much time needed to work through them but, on the other hand, it does mean some more Northern Soul. Still, as the old saying goes, every silver lining has a cloud eh...
Judy Street - simple - classic.
Mama Cass - rather lovely hangover from my time with Samantha - one of her favourite records and on my possibles list for almost three years
John Edwards - I have no recollection of when or how I first heard this but, oh my, am I glad I did
Gary Numan - this sounds so energetic, vibrant and immense now that I cannot imagine how on earth it sounded to people when it was released in 1979. Numan got 'synth-pop' into the charts pretty much before anybody else and is a massively under appreciated influence on the last 35 years. And he's still going...
When In Rome - bought for me on 12" by my then girlfriend this was very much a 'guilty pleasure' back in '88 when it was supposed to be all about hip-hop, funk and early house stuff - but I (quietly) loved this then and still do now - only in the last couple of years have I come to understand it's one of many widely loved euro/italo-pop style anthems from the time.
S
x
Tuesday, 7 January 2014
DHS-LP 03 (S)
Short and sweet - nothing to say about either of your previous selections 'cos neither of you made one!
So mine for the next six months is;
Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman [1994]
Until yesterday I had no intention of picking this at all. In fact it's not, nor ever has been, on my list of DHS-LP possible albums. But for reasons I'll explain elsewhere I listened to it again yesterday - twice - and it was like unexpectedly bumping into an old mate and having a great evening out. Twenty years old this year and I'm genuinely 100% certain that this is my absolute favourite dance music album ever. (The first Prodigy album would come close, as would Peter Benisch, one of the Orbital albums and, of course, Leftism - but I don't think any of them are as good. I know I don't like any of them more than I like Dubnobass...)
It spawned a handful of epic singles. It led to some immense reworkings and remarkable follow ups. It inspired who knows what amount of creativity and it has soundtracked a disproportionate chunk of my last 20 years. It's not the most obscure choice I'll ever make and I fully expect you both to be very well acquainted with most, if not all, of it. But I just couldn't run the risk that someone else might get in there and choose it before me - it's too personal and taken up too much of my last 20 years to allow that to happen - so I kind of panicked and had to get in there and nail it down for myself right now.
Job done.
S
So mine for the next six months is;
Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman [1994]
Until yesterday I had no intention of picking this at all. In fact it's not, nor ever has been, on my list of DHS-LP possible albums. But for reasons I'll explain elsewhere I listened to it again yesterday - twice - and it was like unexpectedly bumping into an old mate and having a great evening out. Twenty years old this year and I'm genuinely 100% certain that this is my absolute favourite dance music album ever. (The first Prodigy album would come close, as would Peter Benisch, one of the Orbital albums and, of course, Leftism - but I don't think any of them are as good. I know I don't like any of them more than I like Dubnobass...)
It spawned a handful of epic singles. It led to some immense reworkings and remarkable follow ups. It inspired who knows what amount of creativity and it has soundtracked a disproportionate chunk of my last 20 years. It's not the most obscure choice I'll ever make and I fully expect you both to be very well acquainted with most, if not all, of it. But I just couldn't run the risk that someone else might get in there and choose it before me - it's too personal and taken up too much of my last 20 years to allow that to happen - so I kind of panicked and had to get in there and nail it down for myself right now.
Job done.
S
Sunday, 5 January 2014
DHS 12 - Part 3 (D)
Good evening gentlemen, its time to begin the second millennia of DHS tunes after the H-bomb took us to the magic number. But before we get to that a review of the previous ten tracks...
Mr Sullivan
Im not a big northern soul fan, but the Frankie Valli track is most enjoyable, for me its all about the vocal, and the bassline is ok but I'll take your 'The Night' and raise you a 'Billie Jean'... then its on to the Donna Summer fest and not the first time you've put on an 18 minute track either - for those of us that listen to the others selections more than once in order to really get a feel for them, it all takes a bit longer ! A contender for the most laboured metaphor ever included in a record, MacArthur Park is a very strange track. Enjoyably done by Disco Donna though, but I don't like her other records that much (Heaven knows is better than one of a kind) on this 'track', and would have been better just done alone for my money. Great voice though. I must confess I have absolutely no idea who Marti Caine is - looked her up and her face does look familiar though don't know why ! All I can say here is that its not for me... Wavespeech is of course a classic, not really much more to say about that - except there are 20 (twenty) versions of it on spot there. One of them by a guy I used to work with and actually came along to my Intensity gig - Elliot Wright. Teenage Spaceman could be the best of the lot I think, really like this, not surprised you love it fella - really bubbles along nicely and that melody gets right inside your head. Good effort chap.
Mr Hodgson
Canon in D - heard it many times, its very nice indeed when you're in the right mood, although if im honest the amount of times I listen to classical music is very small indeed - definitely 'progressive' in its day though. Take one of those long forgotten about points for Love Sensation mate, was on my list of possibles which has actually grown to a respectable size recently. Big vocal of course and I don't think its camp at all mate if I honest. Huge. These waves is a contender for the best track on NE1 for my money - its that or Raincry really, top work hunting it down and adding it here chap. Sugarhigh does exactly what it says on the tin doesn't it, very boshy and happy uplifting trance business. KU has really changed his style recently I think - when he began wasn't it all electro (of the day) ? He seems much more progressive in the last couple of years. And that brings me to record number 1000. Well. Im not sure what I think of this choice. It is, apparently, a classic so it ticks that box. However does it mean anything to me ? Not at all. Its an ok track in the way that 'break of dawn' and 'passion' are and of its day no doubt. But does it represent all we've done in DHS ? I don't think so, as it would surely be a track we all liked ? But then is it supposed to ? Its your selection after all. So a big 'hmmm' from me about that one. Once we've built up this 1000 thing was never gonna be easy mate, and maybe I just expected something like 'Xpander' or 'Heaven Scent' to signify the whole Bedrock coming together that we have at our roots. Anyway, another strong five, nice one.
So my 5 are as follows:
Spotify told me that Dosem had a new track out (Atica) so I went and checked but it wasn't for me so I wandered through his back catalogue and stumbled across 'August Lovers' which I love, lovely melody and blissful laid back feel. I was keen to see where it came from and was an album called 'Natura Sonoris' which rang a bell as did the track 'Onice' which I believe you added Hodge although on your notes there was no mention of the album so I presume you knew the track and went hunting for it. I decided to go through the album, and boy am I glad I did - its an untapped source of treasure, and so there are 3 further tracks there from me. Next up is 'Letting Go' by Kitkaliitto which has a wonderful offbeat vibe going on and couldn't be more chilled - nice little break where I was just begging for the beat to kick back in, which it does somewhat reluctantly. A different track but a good one I reckon. Then its onto 'Fractal God Mirage' which is an early contender for my tune of 2014 (that Ive heard) as its just keeps growing and growing, layer upon layer and the break when it finally comes is immense as it teases and tantalises before giving it all up. TUNE. Finally from this album is 'The Way the Sunlight Plays Upon her Hair' which is a genius piece of production for me, with a tune that's been taken from somewhere I know, but I just cant place. Lovely acid bassline and the production on the vocals and indeed the melody, is top notch - bubbles along at a fair old pace as well. And seeing as we're all doing it this time round, its my NE1 offering, being 'Dark & Long' seeing as 'Raincry' isn't on spot... and you know it well enough, so the edit will do.
Happy New Year bitches
One love
Mr Sullivan
Im not a big northern soul fan, but the Frankie Valli track is most enjoyable, for me its all about the vocal, and the bassline is ok but I'll take your 'The Night' and raise you a 'Billie Jean'... then its on to the Donna Summer fest and not the first time you've put on an 18 minute track either - for those of us that listen to the others selections more than once in order to really get a feel for them, it all takes a bit longer ! A contender for the most laboured metaphor ever included in a record, MacArthur Park is a very strange track. Enjoyably done by Disco Donna though, but I don't like her other records that much (Heaven knows is better than one of a kind) on this 'track', and would have been better just done alone for my money. Great voice though. I must confess I have absolutely no idea who Marti Caine is - looked her up and her face does look familiar though don't know why ! All I can say here is that its not for me... Wavespeech is of course a classic, not really much more to say about that - except there are 20 (twenty) versions of it on spot there. One of them by a guy I used to work with and actually came along to my Intensity gig - Elliot Wright. Teenage Spaceman could be the best of the lot I think, really like this, not surprised you love it fella - really bubbles along nicely and that melody gets right inside your head. Good effort chap.
Mr Hodgson
Canon in D - heard it many times, its very nice indeed when you're in the right mood, although if im honest the amount of times I listen to classical music is very small indeed - definitely 'progressive' in its day though. Take one of those long forgotten about points for Love Sensation mate, was on my list of possibles which has actually grown to a respectable size recently. Big vocal of course and I don't think its camp at all mate if I honest. Huge. These waves is a contender for the best track on NE1 for my money - its that or Raincry really, top work hunting it down and adding it here chap. Sugarhigh does exactly what it says on the tin doesn't it, very boshy and happy uplifting trance business. KU has really changed his style recently I think - when he began wasn't it all electro (of the day) ? He seems much more progressive in the last couple of years. And that brings me to record number 1000. Well. Im not sure what I think of this choice. It is, apparently, a classic so it ticks that box. However does it mean anything to me ? Not at all. Its an ok track in the way that 'break of dawn' and 'passion' are and of its day no doubt. But does it represent all we've done in DHS ? I don't think so, as it would surely be a track we all liked ? But then is it supposed to ? Its your selection after all. So a big 'hmmm' from me about that one. Once we've built up this 1000 thing was never gonna be easy mate, and maybe I just expected something like 'Xpander' or 'Heaven Scent' to signify the whole Bedrock coming together that we have at our roots. Anyway, another strong five, nice one.
So my 5 are as follows:
Spotify told me that Dosem had a new track out (Atica) so I went and checked but it wasn't for me so I wandered through his back catalogue and stumbled across 'August Lovers' which I love, lovely melody and blissful laid back feel. I was keen to see where it came from and was an album called 'Natura Sonoris' which rang a bell as did the track 'Onice' which I believe you added Hodge although on your notes there was no mention of the album so I presume you knew the track and went hunting for it. I decided to go through the album, and boy am I glad I did - its an untapped source of treasure, and so there are 3 further tracks there from me. Next up is 'Letting Go' by Kitkaliitto which has a wonderful offbeat vibe going on and couldn't be more chilled - nice little break where I was just begging for the beat to kick back in, which it does somewhat reluctantly. A different track but a good one I reckon. Then its onto 'Fractal God Mirage' which is an early contender for my tune of 2014 (that Ive heard) as its just keeps growing and growing, layer upon layer and the break when it finally comes is immense as it teases and tantalises before giving it all up. TUNE. Finally from this album is 'The Way the Sunlight Plays Upon her Hair' which is a genius piece of production for me, with a tune that's been taken from somewhere I know, but I just cant place. Lovely acid bassline and the production on the vocals and indeed the melody, is top notch - bubbles along at a fair old pace as well. And seeing as we're all doing it this time round, its my NE1 offering, being 'Dark & Long' seeing as 'Raincry' isn't on spot... and you know it well enough, so the edit will do.
Happy New Year bitches
One love
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