DHS 13 - part 10 (S)

For the last little while I've been thinking there was a DHS update due and I just finally got around to checking who's turn it is and it turns out it's mine - apologies...

No time right now to write anything further - just to say I've loaded the top five from my possibles list - more to follow at some stage...

S
x

DHS 13 - Part 9 (D)

Afternoon all - the demands of fatherhood mean that for once, I'm going to keep this mercifully short.

S
The Pop Kids - not for me
Inner Sanctum - It's cafe del mar meets age of love! Not a bad tune but not a fan of the lyrics, a bit too kitsch for me.
Moving on - Wonderful song, especially if you've watched the video. Great melodies and hooks as you'd expect from James - proper uplifting business - onto the master list.
Curse Curse - Another big anthemic tune from James - more good stuff
Winter's Eve - Taking it down several notches, this is a lovely tune but that you'd need to be in the right mood for. Reminds me of Shane McGowan.

H
Native Riddim - who doesn't like a piano with a 'yeah y'all' loop? The spoken word was surprising but gives it a more thoughtful vibe. Nice.
Ancient Lake - top tune that really grows into itself, it was only about halfway through that I thought I might like it.
Higher Level - Simple and very effective, love that hook.
Nothing - Nice production skills on display, it all rests on whether you like the treatment of the vocal I think, and I'm not sure about it. Good track for a deep mix.
Universal Love - hammered the shit out of this at the end of the 90's. Dated a bit but the quality shines through.

D
Some housey business from me:

Rampa - 'My Life'
Matthias Meyer - 'Uluwatu'
Matthias Meyer - 'Becuz' (not sure about the Hammond Organ-esque slide but the rest is top drawer)
Mind Against & Somne - 'Vertere'
Alex Niggemann - 'Siyawa'

DHS 13 - Part 7 (S)

H's five;
Sasha - just beautiful - I love the man
Susumu Yokota - lovely tune
Banco de Gaia - legendary status and fully deserving of it
Tourist - decent enough
Chris Malinchak - not sure it's available on Spot any more but it's a nice tune - almost got something of the original 'Last Rhythm' about it...

D's five;
Mystery Jets - interesting - I've put the album on my phone to listen to in the car - thanks
Charles Bradley - geezer's got a great voice but I don't think this song is for me
Frankie Knuckles - one of the best things to ever happen to DHS
Holy Ghost - I've heard a lot about this lot and not sure I've ever actually listened to anything by them before now - not 100% sure what to make of this track - need to put it in the context of an album - will have to put the whole thing on my phone...
Everything Everything - crazy lyric - quirky music - I like it

S's five;
The 'theme' of my selection, if there actually is one, could be described as 'new music from people who made their names decades ago'...

The Pet Shop Boys - two tunes from their latest album - and each one pays a proper homage to some classic dance records - listening to the chorus of 'Pop Kids' and I can hear the piano from Bizarre Inc's 'Playing With Knives' and 'Inner Sanctum' borrows massively from the classic Age of Love by Age of Love.  No one does electronic pop better than the PSB's.

James - the same band that did 'Sit Down' and 'Come Home' at the end of the '80s and early '90s - two tracks from their latest album - 'Moving On' has an accompanying video that is genuinely one of the best music videos I've ever watched - makes me well up even remembering it - beautiful.  'Curse Curse' is a joyful, uplifting, piece of indie-dance heavily loaded with double-entendre and a name check for Lionel Messi.

Ben Watt - the guy who was the music behind Everything But The Girl in the '80s and then went on to run the phenomenal 'Buzzin Fly' record label and DJ all over the globe - he's gone back to where he started and has put out a couple of albums of him singing his own songs - I originally wanted to pick 'Young Man's Game', from his previous album, which is his lament for his own DJing career, but it's weirdly unavailable as I type this so instead I've gone with 'Winter's Eve' which is probably my favourite track off his latest album.

Outta here...
x

DHS 13 - Part 6 (D)

Evening all,

I'm trying my best to squeeze this update in, as of course my daughter takes up a lot of time. I begrudge her none of it and it's an absolute pleasure but time on the internet has been severely curtailed. I've also only seen 3 euro games and only the odd highlight here and there, although I'm actually enjoying ignoring England!

My selection, when I get to it, is very much a second choice offering. Because what I would have liked to add would be a tribute to Prince as I have been a massive fan of his since the end of the 80's I think. He faded away pretty much after the Gold album (about 94 / 95) in my opinion, but some of the albums before then were incredible and his 'best of' stands up next to anyone. The man was simply a genius - incredibly talented and utterly unique. Some of the lyrics of his songs are genius - especially 'u got the look' when he was at his pomp on the sign o' the times album. Clever, quirky, humorous and telling a story while belting out a killer tune. There are many more of course - LRC, Raspberry Beret, Sign o The Times, Starfish & Coffee, Gold to name just a very few. I was fortunate enough to see him at Earl's Court in 1994 and it was utterly brilliant. He made several great albums; Under the Cherry Moon / Parade (Kiss, Sometimes it Snows in April), Around the World in a Day (Condition of the Heart, Raspberry Beret), 1999 (1999, Little Red Corvette), Sign 'O the Times (all of them!), Lovesexy (Alphabet Street, When 2 r in Love, Glam Slam), Diamonds & Pearls (Walk Don't Walk, Diamonds & Pearls), The Gold album (Gold, Most Beautiful Girl in the World).

I first got into me when someone lent me his lovesexy live video and I was hooked. You can sample exactly why he was so good live here but the talent, artistry and showmanship are something else. I'm very fortunate to have the whole thing on DVD, as it also contains this. Apparently Eric Clapton at his peak was asked 'what's it like to be the best guitar player in the world?' and he replied, 'I don't know - ask Prince.' Indeed. One of a kind. RIP. Some more Prince tunes will be added if I ever can on spot...

So to your selections:

S
Unputdownable - Love everything about this it's just a wonderful house record. Great melody, brilliant arrangement and production - top vocals that absolutely complement the tune. Would love to hear this somewhere big. Fantastic production and a great selection. On to the list!
Enchante - Christ what a builder this is, just gets bigger and bigger and is wonderfully layered. Top drawer production as the melodies are like hand in glove they fit so well, and the looped vocal stab really works well. Great strings and breaks finishing it off. Belter. On the list too!
Pine - There really are no words that will do this justice. Must have heard this 50 times and it still gets me. It's transcendental, on a higher plane. It's why we have dance music and music at all. Goes past the ears, via the brain and touches something deep within you. I could laugh, I could cry, but mostly I just rejoice. Not sure I could not be overwhelmed if I heard this while on one. This is love in prog music form - the only thing that remotely comes close to how I feel when I look at my daughter. Utterly immense.
Claim of Planet Earth - I'm sorry mate but I really don't like this at all. It's really melancholy and makes me feel the exact opposite of pine!
Parallaxis - this is ok but nothing more than that, a real laid back house vibe that's nice for some sunny afternoon relaxing.
The first 3 tracks are so good mate that they carry this as one of your best ever selections for me - nice one!

H
View2 - Very nice track, Sasha really likes the downtempo track in his own productions doesn't he, but this also has a grander feel in places. Lovely keys and melody. Easy to get lost in, what I believe you chaps might call 'Lush'. On the list.
Genshi - this is wonderful - the insistent snare all the way through it really adds to the melodies and gives them more urgency and it's just a beautiful track, simple yet effective. On the list!
Last Train to Lhasa - It's on Northern Exposure is all you really need to know.
Run - This is a good track, no mistake, but I can't help feeling it doesn't match the build up each time - I expect something bigger, like the track will really explode. I know I'm being picky here - after all it's a solid tune, good even, but after the builds I felt a little deflated!
Razor 2.0 - This track sounds really dated to me, is it? Like it has elements of New York garage in it - the vocal snippets in the background for one, the synth keys for two and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, the whole track just feels a bit middle of the road, house by numbers. Didn't really like it.
Another strong selection Mr Hodgson!

As Prince is not currently available (in many ways!) and I've been banging on about 6 music, here's a selection of tracks I've heard from there that I sought out:

I'm only actually going to say 2 things about my 5.
1) I've known since '88 that the 'original' you've got the love was known as 'erins bootleg mix' and for my shame I never knew why. Now I do.
2) If you find a funkier, more soulful track than 'aint it a sin' this year I'll eat my hat. WHAT a bassline!

Isn't she lovely...

One Love

DHS 13 - Part 4 (S)

H's last five - The Bowie Selection

There's no point me commenting on the chosen songs themselves - they're light years beyond my critique... 

I didn't know Bowie till the Let's Dance album in '83 but then, as is very often the/my way, I went backwards and liked what I heard.  It was only really with the advent of internet and Spotify specifically that I ticked all my missing Bowie boxes.  It got to the stage a couple of years back when he released the 'Next Day' album out of the blue that I was quite excited to hear it - and there are a couple of songs from it may well get visited in the future - and then all of a sudden in January it was a bit of a blur - there were rumours that another album had come out of nowhere - the rumours were true - the album was obtained and it was dense - it demanded concentration and listening - and before either of those could be given he was dead.  It was genuinely shocking.  And now listening to it it's genuinely remarkable.  The man did actually turn his demise into his last artistic statement and that's an incredible thing to do.

A couple of weeks after his death I was having a meal at my Mum's and she asked me whether I thought the reaction to his death had been over-stated at all or whether it was in keeping with his stature - I answered her straight away but it took me a while to then get comfortable with what I'd said, but I am now and I stand by it - I genuinely think Bowie's death is the single biggest loss from the world of post-war British culture and I'm still not sure that the country realises what's gone - the only global losses felt as acutely would be Presley and Jackson - Bowie genuinely belongs in that company.

Only after he'd died did I learn that Rick Wakeman had played the piano on the original Life On Mars - his solo tribute, played live on Radio 2, is beautiful...

 

 

 



D's last five;
Isaac Hayes - another legendary artists that I simply don't know enough about - his version of 'Walk On By' is MASSIVE though and it's nice to see this join that and one other by him on DHS - my kind of tune
Young Fathers - I've tried five or six times with this track - I want to like it - it sounds like I should but I just can't seem to - I don't dislike it at all - frustrating track
Prodigy/Public Enemy/Manfred Mann - didn't like this at first - now I really very much do - splendid
Neuropol - Yes mate - 'liquid funk' updated-Bukem style - just an immense pleasure to listen to over and over again
Leftfield - I've tried hard on this as well - no argument that it would sound immense on a club rig but I just don't like it that much - whole album left me cold to be honest - hey-ho...


My five;
Starts off with three tunes from a recent mix I did - not particularly adventurous of me if you've heard the mix already but they were on my 'possibles' list before I did the mix so...

Roisin Murphy remix - starts off ok - vocal comes in - builds, drops, and then blossoms into a lovely, lovely thing

Laurent Garnier - this man has done some seminal records and I honestly think this is right up there with the best of them - the build, the looped vocal sample, the strings and then the keys - SO simple - so, SO, good

Kenny Leaven - Sasha dropped this in a set from Mexico that I was sad enough to be watching live online at 1am one Saturday morning in January and I genuinely stood up and raved in my living room - MASSIVE

And then two that I haven't used in a mix.  Yet...

El_Txef_A - fairly recent discovery - mournful and melancholic strings set against a flat-out-classic looped breakbeat with some filthy, squelchy, acid and some ethereal voices - lovely - and then in the second half you're treated to the addition of someone reading some sort of appraisal of a passage from a James Joyce novel.  Deal with it...

Efdemin - bit of a risk this one, in as much as I only discovered it today and it's squeaked in here at the expense of an absolute snorter of a tune so let's see how it goes...  I'm not that familiar with Efdemin's stuff or the guy who's remixed it - Traumprinz - but on the strength of this (which was out a couple of years back) I shall be investigating a lot further - the first half is nice - 'pretty' almost - then the breakbeat kicks in and the second half is LUSH.

Man-hugs all round...

DHS 13 - Part 3 (D)

Evening all,

I'm very pleased to see that the life support system of DHS is still beeping and the old man is not dead yet. It seemed for a while there as if an amputation would the only thing that would allow it to carry on living, but thankfully it wasn't needed and yet he still goes on living. Some strong drugs, the right nourishment and maybe even a little exercise and who knows, there could be life in the old dog yet.

Thank you both as ever for the last selection. My thoughts firstly on what a big wanker than me (don't say it...) my call Kev's 'meditation' on love:

'Fail for you'
Being the 'broken love' portion. It's nice enough, but seems extremely personal to me. Quite clever hook I suppose, but otherwise a bit 'meh' for me. You need to be going through a break-up to really appreciate it, and then I guess it could make you fall apart!

'Breathe me'
The imploring love is beautifully handled, nice subtle voice, good lyrics and I like the rising strings to bring more drama to the record - I feel like she really is imploring. Nice Sigur Ros-esque drop too.

'Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart'
Defiant love eh? This has been on my rotation for a couple of years. Great tune that to me spoke nothing of love and more of a great big fuck you. You were great, I loved you, but you left, so fuck you I'm moving on. No matter, a great record and well chosen.

'Brand New Colony'
Love as genius lyrical metaphors starts off with an intro from Super Mario Land which does not wet the palette for musical greatness. The lyrics are only decent to these ears and the cut is not really for me I'm afraid.

'Nothing Lasts Forever'
Seize the day love is a great idea, although I'm sure I've made a tit of myself with this kind of notion, but always felt ok about it. But I really like this tune, although I can't really tell you why other than the music is good and the vocal nicely understated. It's uplifting and beautifully done. Hats off.

And Hodge's Marcel Marceau tribute to David Bowie:

I've never really liked Bowie's music, even though I've really respected his originality - here was a man who was definitely doing his own thing, very successfully, and not only that he was able to reinvent himself constantly. You have to respect him if nothing else. I tried again when he died, but couldn't find anything that really vibed with me I find that I like small parts of his records but nothing more and can't stand to listen to anything more than once, which is never a good sign. So, 'Starman' I liked the riff before the chorus and the chorus itself but could take or leave the rest of it really. Same kind of thing with 'Life on Mars' there's some great double bass (I think?) in there and the lead up to the chorus and the chorus is ok. Bowie's voice is not bad  but there are some unusual lyrics - I guess that was part of his thing. 'Ziggy Stardust' I'd never heard before, even if I'd heard the name, and it's just not for me. 'Changes' sounds like something I've heard before, but again it doesn't do anything for me - christ I sound like a broken record here, sorry mate! 'Space Oddity' I do know and it's easily my favourite Bowie record - probably his most well known, is that right? Certainly his most accessible. Great lyrics, beautifully sung and really tells a story and I love the arrangement of the vocals and the percussion. But I have no real idea what the point of it is! But maybe it doesn't need one...

As ever, my thanks for music I would not have otherwise heard. My offering is thus:

'Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic' - Isaac Hayes
Piano soul of the highest order. Great soul track anyway and then the piano just takes over, drips funk and takes you away, and then there is quite the surprise... made me sit up and smile. Tune.

'Nest' Young Fathers
The boys were back last year with another album and they're really firing on all cylinders. Two or three great tracks but this is the pick of the bunch for me. Just endlessly uplifting, great vocal and a rolling riff that bumps along nicely. Big smiley track - 'baby baby'

'Shut 'em Up' - Public Enemy / The Prodigy / Manfred Mann
Well what's not to like about that line up? World class remix business.

'Mile Out' - Neuropol
Especially for you Hodge. Su and I were having the most amazing chilled weekend in a remote holiday house in Wales at the end of last year and after a great long walk to a tiny beach we came back and chilled with the fire on and listened to the radio with food, games, box sets and all that. We returned to the music late at night and this track came on and I wrote it down straight away. This is what D&B should always be like for me. Immense.

'Bad Radio' - Leftfield & Tunde Adebimpe
Just shaded out 'Universal Everything' from the new album on the strength that this tune is just fucking badass. Play it loud and blow your windows out. Imagine this in the depths of a great club at 4am when you're off your tits. Terrifying. In a good way.

As Kev so succinctly put, one love.

It's good to be back.