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
Monday, 28 January 2013
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
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
DHS - continually evolving...(?!)
Messrs D&H - your attention please...
A proposal;
I think we have now proved that DHS was a decent idea and has got the legs to endure for a good while yet. But I've been thinking - is there a way to add more value to the basic idea...?
And, consequently, I'd like to make a suggestion to you both.
*drum-roll*
"DHS-LP"
Here's how I'm suggesting it;
- I create a new, distinct and seperate list, 'DHS-LP'
- it is open for one month at a time either twice or three times a year
- (either January & July, or January, May & September)
- during the month it is open we each deposit one, whole, album into the folder
- before the folder opens again (4 or 6 months) we each undertake to listen, in full, to each album posted
- albums can be, within reason, any format whatsoever that is on Spotify - i.e, artist album, 'best of', various artist compilation or DJ-mix
- (acknowledging that there are some HUGE compilations on there which would be unrealistic to listen through)
- (brief?!) reviews to be blogged on each album entered as and when the listener is inspired to do so
- that's pretty much it
So; thoughts...
S
x
A proposal;
I think we have now proved that DHS was a decent idea and has got the legs to endure for a good while yet. But I've been thinking - is there a way to add more value to the basic idea...?
And, consequently, I'd like to make a suggestion to you both.
*drum-roll*
"DHS-LP"
Here's how I'm suggesting it;
- I create a new, distinct and seperate list, 'DHS-LP'
- it is open for one month at a time either twice or three times a year
- (either January & July, or January, May & September)
- during the month it is open we each deposit one, whole, album into the folder
- before the folder opens again (4 or 6 months) we each undertake to listen, in full, to each album posted
- albums can be, within reason, any format whatsoever that is on Spotify - i.e, artist album, 'best of', various artist compilation or DJ-mix
- (acknowledging that there are some HUGE compilations on there which would be unrealistic to listen through)
- (brief?!) reviews to be blogged on each album entered as and when the listener is inspired to do so
- that's pretty much it
So; thoughts...
S
x
DHS 11 - Part 1 (S)
Good work on the 'Best Of...' chaps
Choices 901-905 coming up but before them a few words about 891-900...
891-895 - H, old boy, there's not much I can say about that selection - they're all great tunes and I'm glad you love them. Really very glad.
896-900 - D, Immortal Technique & Sigur Ros need no words from me - I'm very happy you also love them. Guy J is very you - would expect you to mix with this; MJ - didn't really know the original and I'm not sure this is Nero's best work...; Emile Sande - this girl is class.
So, there you have it - short and sweet - here's 901-905;
Ok, as I explained to Duffy when we met in Brixton a while back - this DHS selection of mine has been a LONG TIME coming. I wanted to do a 'five-pick' that was simply tunes from 1983 ('ish) that are basically responsible for me being where I musically am now. It's taken a while 'cos unfortunately, great though it generally is, Spotify isn't as hot as it could be on early 80's underground New York electro.
However, sufficient have surfaced now to enable a worthwhile stab at it.
I don't remotely expect any of these to have anything like the impact on either of you as they did on me - I'd almost go so far as to say it'd be impossible. But bear with me - it's important to me that DHS gets the full breadth and depth of all of us so, without further ado; this is how I started...
Hashim - Al-Naafiysh - probably stood the test of time better than anything else - I still read now and again that this gets played today...
Newcleus - Computer Age - they at least two hits that resonated for longer than this one (Wikki-Wikki & Jam On It), but I went for this 'cos the 'futurism' of it totally enthralled me back in the day...
Information Society - Running - something of a cult record in recent years - I have the original 12" bought in import from Groove Records in Soho (in '84?) and I'm honestly not sure the purchase of a single record has ever given me greater satisfaction.
Man Parrish - Boogie Down Bronx - this is the fella that did THE best '83 Electro record ever (Hip Hop Be Bop - which is already on DHS) and this was the very different follow up - I can still rap 90% of this without thinking about it...
Double Dee & Steinski - Lesson 3 - as the title suggests this was the third, and what turned out to be final, 12" single in a series. Steinski basically took the template that Grandmaster Flash laid down with his 'Official Adventures Of...' release and went to town on it - basically set the template for MARRS/Coldcut/DJ Shadow/et al in terms of a bunch of samples all edited down into one cohesive whole. I was torn as to whether to do Lesson 1 (aka The Payoff Mix), Lesson 2 or go with 3 - obviously I've gone with 3 but the other two are on the same album as this track.
AND, as a bonus, I cannot highly enough recommend the hip-hop mix that is disc 2 of the release that the 'Lesson' tracks are on. It's fantastic.
There you have it chaps - eleven is up and running...
S
x
Choices 901-905 coming up but before them a few words about 891-900...
891-895 - H, old boy, there's not much I can say about that selection - they're all great tunes and I'm glad you love them. Really very glad.
896-900 - D, Immortal Technique & Sigur Ros need no words from me - I'm very happy you also love them. Guy J is very you - would expect you to mix with this; MJ - didn't really know the original and I'm not sure this is Nero's best work...; Emile Sande - this girl is class.
So, there you have it - short and sweet - here's 901-905;
Ok, as I explained to Duffy when we met in Brixton a while back - this DHS selection of mine has been a LONG TIME coming. I wanted to do a 'five-pick' that was simply tunes from 1983 ('ish) that are basically responsible for me being where I musically am now. It's taken a while 'cos unfortunately, great though it generally is, Spotify isn't as hot as it could be on early 80's underground New York electro.
However, sufficient have surfaced now to enable a worthwhile stab at it.
I don't remotely expect any of these to have anything like the impact on either of you as they did on me - I'd almost go so far as to say it'd be impossible. But bear with me - it's important to me that DHS gets the full breadth and depth of all of us so, without further ado; this is how I started...
Hashim - Al-Naafiysh - probably stood the test of time better than anything else - I still read now and again that this gets played today...
Newcleus - Computer Age - they at least two hits that resonated for longer than this one (Wikki-Wikki & Jam On It), but I went for this 'cos the 'futurism' of it totally enthralled me back in the day...
Information Society - Running - something of a cult record in recent years - I have the original 12" bought in import from Groove Records in Soho (in '84?) and I'm honestly not sure the purchase of a single record has ever given me greater satisfaction.
Man Parrish - Boogie Down Bronx - this is the fella that did THE best '83 Electro record ever (Hip Hop Be Bop - which is already on DHS) and this was the very different follow up - I can still rap 90% of this without thinking about it...
Double Dee & Steinski - Lesson 3 - as the title suggests this was the third, and what turned out to be final, 12" single in a series. Steinski basically took the template that Grandmaster Flash laid down with his 'Official Adventures Of...' release and went to town on it - basically set the template for MARRS/Coldcut/DJ Shadow/et al in terms of a bunch of samples all edited down into one cohesive whole. I was torn as to whether to do Lesson 1 (aka The Payoff Mix), Lesson 2 or go with 3 - obviously I've gone with 3 but the other two are on the same album as this track.
AND, as a bonus, I cannot highly enough recommend the hip-hop mix that is disc 2 of the release that the 'Lesson' tracks are on. It's fantastic.
There you have it chaps - eleven is up and running...
S
x
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Best of DHS 9 & 10 (H) & 3rd Anniversary 3
Apologies for my delay in adding - life has been getting in the way of music lately - disgraceful behaviour.
So, no messing - straight in:-
SR3 ( ) - first record of theirs I ever heard ("what's the standout piano track early on in the mix, it's utterly jaw dropping ?!" ; "I'm afraid it's time for you to listen to all the Sigur Ros albums with immediate effect, you've avoided it far too long!!"). Thanks for the intro guys.... words fail me, they really, genuinely do.
PSB - London Can Take It - Possibly the most original and diverse (yet painfully and just soul destroyingly short to the extent of, dare I say it, infuriation) record included on the lists thus far. Imagine opening a set with this tune. Banjo Rave (this is not a euphemism). Fantastic.
Bicep, Ejeca - You - Moody, deep, love the first time the vocal sample is allowed to breathe fully about half way through - the whole track then fits in to place. Very neat production indeed and one of my fave's of the year.
Guido Percich - Greenwich - I feel like I've been wrapped up and transported back to Sheffield in the late 90's; Thursday night; Orchis; too many Stella's; sweaty, packed, dark little dacefloor rammed against DJ booth; Pink Versace peaking; double nutting Benson and Hedges after forgetting already had one lit; not even on the planet.........all these memories from a record put down 2 years ago. Lush.
Maps - MD Rmx - Very difficult decision on this..... Goodbye Horses (a massively worthy tune imo) got nudged by this, but I simply couldnt ignore a tune that never fails to put a gargantuan smile on my face - quite a 'big' record considering my current leanings.... but at 4:45 I'm like a kid in a sweet shop, sh!t cliche but sadly there is no better way of describing it.
OT Quartet - HTSD - WALLOP. Hugely fond memories of school holidays - M.O.S The Annual on cassette, takes you back a wee bit, the tunes surrounding this at the back end of the mix on that tape were actually very good indeed. Cracking track.
Stupid task this last bit - I ended up being a right selfish tw@ - initially had 8 of my own in the potentials list!! Only marginally softened it by adding one track from you two on my final selection, but to be honest, this is best of and these are worthy additions IMO...
Liquid - safe to say this is one of the tracks that hugely increased my love of all things dance/rave back in the early 90s (92?!). Too many good memories to recall... Simply fantastic rave break, melody and vocal sample.
Animal collective - to be honest this blew past me first go round.... Then it cropped up in a playlist elsewhere and I recognised it... Then it came on as I was drifting off once and I was sold. Totally addictive, cool production, slightly unusual beat programming and a welcome addition due to its quirky nature.
Midnight Juggernaughts M83 rmx - many reasons for choosing this, primarily it is one of the best examples of a remix that I know of in recent years... The original is upbeat synth house pop rock (yes sadly this genre exists)... How did your man come up with this interpretation, I ask you?! I don't care, it's totally lush and one of my favourite things he's done (which is praise indeed considering all his beautiful work on original artist LPs)... Secondly but equally important; the vast majority of the M83 back catalogue is unavailable on Spot (Close Your Eyelids... Tragically unavailable) and so I really felt strongly that this guys moody melodic influence, not to mention distinct production, should be included where possible.
Go forth, Mr S.... #11 is calling....
H
So, no messing - straight in:-
SR3 ( ) - first record of theirs I ever heard ("what's the standout piano track early on in the mix, it's utterly jaw dropping ?!" ; "I'm afraid it's time for you to listen to all the Sigur Ros albums with immediate effect, you've avoided it far too long!!"). Thanks for the intro guys.... words fail me, they really, genuinely do.
PSB - London Can Take It - Possibly the most original and diverse (yet painfully and just soul destroyingly short to the extent of, dare I say it, infuriation) record included on the lists thus far. Imagine opening a set with this tune. Banjo Rave (this is not a euphemism). Fantastic.
Bicep, Ejeca - You - Moody, deep, love the first time the vocal sample is allowed to breathe fully about half way through - the whole track then fits in to place. Very neat production indeed and one of my fave's of the year.
Guido Percich - Greenwich - I feel like I've been wrapped up and transported back to Sheffield in the late 90's; Thursday night; Orchis; too many Stella's; sweaty, packed, dark little dacefloor rammed against DJ booth; Pink Versace peaking; double nutting Benson and Hedges after forgetting already had one lit; not even on the planet.........all these memories from a record put down 2 years ago. Lush.
Maps - MD Rmx - Very difficult decision on this..... Goodbye Horses (a massively worthy tune imo) got nudged by this, but I simply couldnt ignore a tune that never fails to put a gargantuan smile on my face - quite a 'big' record considering my current leanings.... but at 4:45 I'm like a kid in a sweet shop, sh!t cliche but sadly there is no better way of describing it.
OT Quartet - HTSD - WALLOP. Hugely fond memories of school holidays - M.O.S The Annual on cassette, takes you back a wee bit, the tunes surrounding this at the back end of the mix on that tape were actually very good indeed. Cracking track.
Stupid task this last bit - I ended up being a right selfish tw@ - initially had 8 of my own in the potentials list!! Only marginally softened it by adding one track from you two on my final selection, but to be honest, this is best of and these are worthy additions IMO...
Liquid - safe to say this is one of the tracks that hugely increased my love of all things dance/rave back in the early 90s (92?!). Too many good memories to recall... Simply fantastic rave break, melody and vocal sample.
Animal collective - to be honest this blew past me first go round.... Then it cropped up in a playlist elsewhere and I recognised it... Then it came on as I was drifting off once and I was sold. Totally addictive, cool production, slightly unusual beat programming and a welcome addition due to its quirky nature.
Midnight Juggernaughts M83 rmx - many reasons for choosing this, primarily it is one of the best examples of a remix that I know of in recent years... The original is upbeat synth house pop rock (yes sadly this genre exists)... How did your man come up with this interpretation, I ask you?! I don't care, it's totally lush and one of my favourite things he's done (which is praise indeed considering all his beautiful work on original artist LPs)... Secondly but equally important; the vast majority of the M83 back catalogue is unavailable on Spot (Close Your Eyelids... Tragically unavailable) and so I really felt strongly that this guys moody melodic influence, not to mention distinct production, should be included where possible.
Go forth, Mr S.... #11 is calling....
H
Thursday, 8 November 2012
Damn...
... after all that the Yann Tiersen track is ALREADY on the The Best Of. Who knew...?!
In which case I'm replacing it with;
Bjork - Dull Flame Of Desire (Modeselektor Remix For Girls) - ironically the Remix For Boys is an absolute steaming muck-heap of an effort but if there's a better remix than the one For Girls on the whole of DHS then I challenge you to bring it to my attention.
*crosses fingers that this too isn't already on the Best Of...*
In which case I'm replacing it with;
Bjork - Dull Flame Of Desire (Modeselektor Remix For Girls) - ironically the Remix For Boys is an absolute steaming muck-heap of an effort but if there's a better remix than the one For Girls on the whole of DHS then I challenge you to bring it to my attention.
*crosses fingers that this too isn't already on the Best Of...*
Best of DHS 9 & 10 (S) & 3rd Anniversary 3
Whose ridiculous idea was this then...?!
Six of the best from the previous 180 and then any three more from the remaining 720?!
Mentalism.
So, before I go completely round the twist never to return here are my six of your best from DHS9 & 10;
Frontside - Dammerung - probably THE best tune from probably THE best commercial mix CD ever. It's hard to leave some tunes out during this 'Best Of' pruning but to have left this off would've been barbaric.
Underworld - Two Months Off - dropping this for the first time at Pat Goodall's i-Witness was a moment I always remember very fondly - still got absolutely no idea how I was sent the tune so far ahead of release. So simple, so compelling, so relentless, so very, very, joyful.
Carter & Swain - Believe - first heard this during a mix session at D's many years ago, during which he gave me a vinyl copy. Can genuinely say it never left my record bag and was one of the *must* finds when I 'went digital'. Just a fabulous record.
Emeli Sande - Heaven - to be honest you could play pretty much anything over a loop of THAT drum break and I'd be in raptures. But to add in some nice lyrics, a BIG voice and some gorgeous strings well, I never stood a chance really.
Fun - We Are Young - from the moment daughter asked me to get this onto her phone for her I was hooked. Not sure why but it would never have occurred to me to sling it on DHS so I was mightily pleased when one of you did. Feel a slight fraud when I'm belting out the chorus but I simply ain't bothered innit.
Underworld - And I Will Kiss - What an amazing few moments they were - the gaze of the entire planet focused on London and out come Underworld with the most epic thing they've ever done - and while the rest of the world marvelled at the unfolding spectacle those of us who instantly 'got it' were just blown to bits. I just want to drink beer now for two hours whilst listening to H tell me all about it - get it in the diary sunshine...
So there you go - my six of the best of the previous 180. Wasn't easy but I'm 95% happy with them - although in moments of uncertainty I think about changing one or more of them for; Moby's OMD remix, Song To The Siren, the Djinxx remix of Steve Mills and PM Dawn. But, no - I'm happy with them as they are and that is that.
So - three more from anywhere?! After being initially mithered I hit upon a method; stick on Total DHS, put it on random play, keep clicking fast forward to the next track after 20 seconds writing down those that 'jump out' - stop when writing when ten are listed - whittle down to three. So based on that, and that alone;
Band of Horses - The Funeral - a more 'unlike me' song you'd struggle to find but there's something about it - I literally couldn't tell you what it is but there's something...
Yann Tierson - Comptine d'un autr ete, l'apres midi - one of the very best examples of the brilliance of DHS, without which I would never have heard this.
FSoL - Papua New Guinea - we can't really expect to have a 'Best Of' list and then not include this, surely?!
Onwards...
x
Six of the best from the previous 180 and then any three more from the remaining 720?!
Mentalism.
So, before I go completely round the twist never to return here are my six of your best from DHS9 & 10;
Frontside - Dammerung - probably THE best tune from probably THE best commercial mix CD ever. It's hard to leave some tunes out during this 'Best Of' pruning but to have left this off would've been barbaric.
Underworld - Two Months Off - dropping this for the first time at Pat Goodall's i-Witness was a moment I always remember very fondly - still got absolutely no idea how I was sent the tune so far ahead of release. So simple, so compelling, so relentless, so very, very, joyful.
Carter & Swain - Believe - first heard this during a mix session at D's many years ago, during which he gave me a vinyl copy. Can genuinely say it never left my record bag and was one of the *must* finds when I 'went digital'. Just a fabulous record.
Emeli Sande - Heaven - to be honest you could play pretty much anything over a loop of THAT drum break and I'd be in raptures. But to add in some nice lyrics, a BIG voice and some gorgeous strings well, I never stood a chance really.
Fun - We Are Young - from the moment daughter asked me to get this onto her phone for her I was hooked. Not sure why but it would never have occurred to me to sling it on DHS so I was mightily pleased when one of you did. Feel a slight fraud when I'm belting out the chorus but I simply ain't bothered innit.
Underworld - And I Will Kiss - What an amazing few moments they were - the gaze of the entire planet focused on London and out come Underworld with the most epic thing they've ever done - and while the rest of the world marvelled at the unfolding spectacle those of us who instantly 'got it' were just blown to bits. I just want to drink beer now for two hours whilst listening to H tell me all about it - get it in the diary sunshine...
So there you go - my six of the best of the previous 180. Wasn't easy but I'm 95% happy with them - although in moments of uncertainty I think about changing one or more of them for; Moby's OMD remix, Song To The Siren, the Djinxx remix of Steve Mills and PM Dawn. But, no - I'm happy with them as they are and that is that.
So - three more from anywhere?! After being initially mithered I hit upon a method; stick on Total DHS, put it on random play, keep clicking fast forward to the next track after 20 seconds writing down those that 'jump out' - stop when writing when ten are listed - whittle down to three. So based on that, and that alone;
Band of Horses - The Funeral - a more 'unlike me' song you'd struggle to find but there's something about it - I literally couldn't tell you what it is but there's something...
Yann Tierson - Comptine d'un autr ete, l'apres midi - one of the very best examples of the brilliance of DHS, without which I would never have heard this.
FSoL - Papua New Guinea - we can't really expect to have a 'Best Of' list and then not include this, surely?!
Onwards...
x
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)