Oh my oh my oh my. As I remarked to Hodgson in an unremembered and frankly inconceivable series of drunken texts a couple of weekends ago - its been a long time. There is no need to go into the why on this here page, devoted as it is to music and particularly D, H & S music. Suffice to say that as ever I am reminded of the power of music and its ability to lift you up, if only temporarily. Two months and 6 days since the last post here and that is truly shocking, I shall endeavour to do better next time when hopefully I am back to full fitness, available for selection and not cluttering up the physio's room. So without further ado...
Kev
Loving 'Saturday' the original. Had a remake of this that I used to hammer way back when, think it might have been by full intention but cant be sure. It had a grey cover though. Possibly on credence. Ace tune.
Same goes for 'I want your love' that's a stone cold classic right there isn't it. Cant fault it in any way - a solid choice and great addition to the hallowed lists.
Hmmm David Bowie... never really been a fan of his but love 'Lets Dance' but only because of that riff which has DEFINITELY been used in a rap record - I want to say by the Notorious BIG, but it might equally be Puff Daddy, someone of that ilk anyway. Don't like Bowies voice I don't think.
Unfortunately 'Spacer' doesn't do it for me, been trying to think of why - could be all the 80's power chords, or that main hook I think, but no, not for me Im afraid.
However 'Im coming out' is tremendous, and this one was definitely used by the Biggie / Puff Daddy crew and the track I believe was 'mo money, mo problems' those boys definitely had some Nile Rodgers love. Good Selection Mr S.
Hodge
So its all about the Mothersole eh, and his roots of trance mix. Interesting. Was never a big fan of the 80's electro stuff unless it used strings really. This one has been sampled by MARRS I think ? Not sure it works on its own, not for me anyway - just sounds too dated and gimmicky as a lot of that stuff was then.
'Unveiling the secret' I do like, has a nice little melody in it, but that vocal just about gets away with it for me. Again sounds so dated, and not in a good way. Maybe I just don't like 80s dance ??
Zoolookologie is again very gimmicky isn't it ? Like someone trying out all the buttons on their new fx keyboard. Which is a shame because I think there is a half decent tune dying to get out of there somewhere.
Ha ha - 'Jabdah' is surely a classic 80s synth record, have heard this many times in many ways. Was certain some Spandau ballet-esque vocal was going to burst out over the top of it, but thankfully not. Top tune !
'Humanoid Invasion' is new to me (great name) but the main riff has been sampled and Ive heard it somewhere else. Very uplifting and very nice indeed, a good tune to end with Hodge old boy - top work.
Im going to burst the current trend and go for 5 records that have absolutely nothing in common...
Drake 'Started from the Bottom'
I love this, I don't know why really. Great tune, like his voice and the production is slick. All the swearing is a bit unnecessary really but it always gets my head bobbing. Dope.
Kanye & Jay-Z 'No Church in the Wild'
Top top tune this one. Great bass drum, nice strings and while Kanye I can take or leave, the singing vocal is perfectly offset by Jay-Z's lyrical flow and the whole thing is superbly out together. Not sure about the ending though...
Rodriguez 'Sugar Man'
Love this album and the story behind it is ace. Recorded the album in South America, completely flopped. Went about his life as a working musician. 25 years later he discovered hes one of the best selling artists in South Africa EVER and is owed a shitload of royalties. Apparently they thought he was dead or something. Likely story. Anyway this album is well worth a check, especially this track and 'cause' which has some great strings. His song have great lyrics and nice melodies.
Elvis Costello 'She'
Went to a free gig at Hyde Park a little while back. Elton John was meant to be playing but when he bailed they made it gratis. Costello played - this was his best one. And I love it from Notting Hill too.
The Kinks 'You really got me'
Ray Davies played after Elvis and he really got the place rocking with all the kinks tunes, this one of course being the most famous and rocking of them all.
Enjoy
One love
Friday, 16 August 2013
Monday, 8 July 2013
DHS-LP 02 (S)
The Jam - Setting Sons (late 1979 - fourth album)
The scene is the late 1970s. British rock/pop music is catalysing the 'new-wave' wave that would follow several years of increasingly predictable and formulaic sub-genres of rock - progressive, heavy/metal, glam, etc. The American led but UK owned rebellion that exploded in 1976 as Punk msSanifested itself abruptly and blazed bright, but short. Disco was hovering awkwardly somewhere in the background like a shy young thing who's not quite yet out of the closet - and all things musical got slightly confused for a short while...
In the midst of this confusion there was a genuine curiosity and, even, trepidation as to what would come next. And into that very space stepped Paul Weller with his first band.
The Jam's first two albums, 'In The City' and, 'This Is The Modern World' had been released more or less one straight after the other in 1977 - the first had created great excitement whilst the second suffered slightly from 'difficult second album syndrome'. More time was taken over the release of the third album, 'All Mod Cons', and that patience was rewarded as the band consolidated their small, dedicated, fan-base who saw something in Weller and his band that might be what they were looking for at the end of the seventies, as 'punk' died and 'rock' floundered. The interest in, and acclaim for, singles like 'Strange Town' and 'Down In The Tube Station At Midnight - (my favourite Jam song and a genuine top ten of all time) had paved the way and the hungry public were curious for something bigger.
Then, in '79, they dropped the 'Eton Rifles' single and followed it a couple of weeks later with the 'Setting Sons' album. And all three of them, the single, the band and their album completely blew up. At this stage I was ten years old - I had very recently been given my first (mono) radio/tape-recorder. I had started following the Top 40 chart on Radio 1 and I loved 'Geno' by Dexy's Midnight Runners. And then I heard 'Eton Rifles'.
I can't, and therefore won't, pretend that I was a HUGE Jam fan from that point on. I loved Eton Rifles from first listen but I was ten years old and it took another four or five years - by which time the band were long gone - before I'd get to hear the 'Setting Sons' album in full...
The thing about the album is, the MAIN thing about the album - apart from the intensity of the music and the 'tightness' of The Jam as a musical band, - is Paul Weller's lyrics. The bloke was 20 years old when most of the songs were written and the album recorded. And for a 20 year old his lyrics are, I believe, extraordinary. Just listen closely to 'Girl On the Phone', (rant against proto-celebrity-stalking-culture); 'Thick As Thieves', (lament for lost innocence of childhood friendships); 'Private Hell', (scathingly harsh treatment of the banality of meaningless suburban married life, written from the Prozac fuelled house-wife's point of view); 'Little Boy Soldiers', (polemic ditty about futility of political war); 'Smithers-Jones' (brilliantly harsh critique of the culture behind London's then rapidly expanding commuter-belt) - and that's only half the album covered...
I haven't not mentioned the other tracks 'cos their lyrics are any weaker - I just want to leave a few to discover for yourselves upon (what I imagine to be a) first listen.
Plus the album finishes on 'Heatwave' - the Jam's first recorded cover version and the first indication that Paul Weller's future would encompass a mellower, blacker, more soulful, r'n'b influenced tone.
Ten songs. Not a single bland one, let alone bad one. A properly great album and I commend it to you.
S
x
The scene is the late 1970s. British rock/pop music is catalysing the 'new-wave' wave that would follow several years of increasingly predictable and formulaic sub-genres of rock - progressive, heavy/metal, glam, etc. The American led but UK owned rebellion that exploded in 1976 as Punk msSanifested itself abruptly and blazed bright, but short. Disco was hovering awkwardly somewhere in the background like a shy young thing who's not quite yet out of the closet - and all things musical got slightly confused for a short while...
In the midst of this confusion there was a genuine curiosity and, even, trepidation as to what would come next. And into that very space stepped Paul Weller with his first band.
The Jam's first two albums, 'In The City' and, 'This Is The Modern World' had been released more or less one straight after the other in 1977 - the first had created great excitement whilst the second suffered slightly from 'difficult second album syndrome'. More time was taken over the release of the third album, 'All Mod Cons', and that patience was rewarded as the band consolidated their small, dedicated, fan-base who saw something in Weller and his band that might be what they were looking for at the end of the seventies, as 'punk' died and 'rock' floundered. The interest in, and acclaim for, singles like 'Strange Town' and 'Down In The Tube Station At Midnight - (my favourite Jam song and a genuine top ten of all time) had paved the way and the hungry public were curious for something bigger.
Then, in '79, they dropped the 'Eton Rifles' single and followed it a couple of weeks later with the 'Setting Sons' album. And all three of them, the single, the band and their album completely blew up. At this stage I was ten years old - I had very recently been given my first (mono) radio/tape-recorder. I had started following the Top 40 chart on Radio 1 and I loved 'Geno' by Dexy's Midnight Runners. And then I heard 'Eton Rifles'.
I can't, and therefore won't, pretend that I was a HUGE Jam fan from that point on. I loved Eton Rifles from first listen but I was ten years old and it took another four or five years - by which time the band were long gone - before I'd get to hear the 'Setting Sons' album in full...
The thing about the album is, the MAIN thing about the album - apart from the intensity of the music and the 'tightness' of The Jam as a musical band, - is Paul Weller's lyrics. The bloke was 20 years old when most of the songs were written and the album recorded. And for a 20 year old his lyrics are, I believe, extraordinary. Just listen closely to 'Girl On the Phone', (rant against proto-celebrity-stalking-culture); 'Thick As Thieves', (lament for lost innocence of childhood friendships); 'Private Hell', (scathingly harsh treatment of the banality of meaningless suburban married life, written from the Prozac fuelled house-wife's point of view); 'Little Boy Soldiers', (polemic ditty about futility of political war); 'Smithers-Jones' (brilliantly harsh critique of the culture behind London's then rapidly expanding commuter-belt) - and that's only half the album covered...
I haven't not mentioned the other tracks 'cos their lyrics are any weaker - I just want to leave a few to discover for yourselves upon (what I imagine to be a) first listen.
Plus the album finishes on 'Heatwave' - the Jam's first recorded cover version and the first indication that Paul Weller's future would encompass a mellower, blacker, more soulful, r'n'b influenced tone.
Ten songs. Not a single bland one, let alone bad one. A properly great album and I commend it to you.
S
x
Wednesday, 19 June 2013
DHS-LP 01 - The thoughts of S...
DHS-LP 01
(H) Photek - 'Modus Operandi'
(D) The Chemical Brothers - 'Exit Planet Dust'
Interesting eh?!
At least to me it was, has been so far, and is - the transition of the DHS model from a handful of potentially disparate tracks into one where the focus is on one artist and a body of their work.
In terms of reviewing your choices I'm going to opt for a different model too - at least for this first round - we'll see how it goes for subsequent selections. What I mean is that I'm not going to write about track-by-track, but more take them at the album level - if not actually the (macro) genre level...
I'm intrigued, although not necessarily surprised, that you've both started off this DHS-LP adventure by choosing albums not only by 'dance' acts but by dance acts from a specific period - second half of
the nineties. I find this intriguing for two reasons.
Firstly I think that, more than any other broad musical 'genre', post-acid-house-dance-music successfully lends itself to the 'single' format rather than the longer playing album. The freedom that the single format conveys is much enjoyed by producers who will put out release after release across a variety of (relatively unrelated/obscure) styles and under a similar variety of pseudonyms, thus allowing each track to stand or fall alone on its own limited merits - as directly opposed to collating all those releases under one name and releasing a much riskier 'multi-(sub)genre' album. Most other rock/pop/indie/folk/etc acts generally only ever release under one name/identity. This dilution inevitably waters down both the numbers of dance-music artist albums and the quality of the tracks therein. As the 21st century has developed I think this has become less so the case - there are more esoteric 'dance' albums released now than ever before - but it took producer(s) with BIG balls to nail their musical colours to the album mast in the mid/late nineties to give momentum.
Secondly I find your choices intriguing for their very era of release - the mid nineties - quite simply the era in which you both 'fully succumbed' to dance music. Not remotely surprising but vaguely intriguing in that DHS-LP is a new venture and mid 90s dance music is something we all share in common and is therefore relatively safe ground. Also worth noting is how hip-hop influenced both albums are - again, no great surprise given both of your predilections for the slower, phatter, beat.
As for the albums themselves...
It will come as no surprise that I find the Photek sound more pleasing than that of the Chemical Brothers - despite the Chemical Brothers album offering an arguably broader range of sound than Photek's.
On Modus Operandi; 'Smoke Rings', 'Aleph 1' and '124' would be my pick of the album's content. Although there is no denying that the entire thing is fantastically produced and the quality of sound is great. Somewhat bizarrely it is the album's title track that is my least favourite - I'm really not a big fan of the overtly jazzy drum and bass sound. Decent album though, 6.5/10 for me.
As for Exit Planet Dust; firstly let me say I'm not a fan of 'segued' artist albums - you know, where there is no distinct gap between tracks but they're not actually 'mixed' in any constructive way...? This is, in places, such an album. Unfortunately. I like the dubby feel of 'One Too Many Mornings' and 'Alive Alone'. Other than those my favourite thing on here by a MILE - and still just about the best thing they've ever done is 'Song To The Siren' albeit that tragically they didn't use the fuller original version that they recorded as The Dust Brothers, whilst the full 10+ minute Sabres Of Paradise remix of it (released on Junior Boys Own) is genuinely a Top 20 of all time dance record contender. Again, decent album, for me a 6/10.
DHS-LP truly underway - looking forward to the next round of choices.
x
(H) Photek - 'Modus Operandi'
(D) The Chemical Brothers - 'Exit Planet Dust'
Interesting eh?!
At least to me it was, has been so far, and is - the transition of the DHS model from a handful of potentially disparate tracks into one where the focus is on one artist and a body of their work.
In terms of reviewing your choices I'm going to opt for a different model too - at least for this first round - we'll see how it goes for subsequent selections. What I mean is that I'm not going to write about track-by-track, but more take them at the album level - if not actually the (macro) genre level...
I'm intrigued, although not necessarily surprised, that you've both started off this DHS-LP adventure by choosing albums not only by 'dance' acts but by dance acts from a specific period - second half of
the nineties. I find this intriguing for two reasons.
Firstly I think that, more than any other broad musical 'genre', post-acid-house-dance-music successfully lends itself to the 'single' format rather than the longer playing album. The freedom that the single format conveys is much enjoyed by producers who will put out release after release across a variety of (relatively unrelated/obscure) styles and under a similar variety of pseudonyms, thus allowing each track to stand or fall alone on its own limited merits - as directly opposed to collating all those releases under one name and releasing a much riskier 'multi-(sub)genre' album. Most other rock/pop/indie/folk/etc acts generally only ever release under one name/identity. This dilution inevitably waters down both the numbers of dance-music artist albums and the quality of the tracks therein. As the 21st century has developed I think this has become less so the case - there are more esoteric 'dance' albums released now than ever before - but it took producer(s) with BIG balls to nail their musical colours to the album mast in the mid/late nineties to give momentum.
Secondly I find your choices intriguing for their very era of release - the mid nineties - quite simply the era in which you both 'fully succumbed' to dance music. Not remotely surprising but vaguely intriguing in that DHS-LP is a new venture and mid 90s dance music is something we all share in common and is therefore relatively safe ground. Also worth noting is how hip-hop influenced both albums are - again, no great surprise given both of your predilections for the slower, phatter, beat.
As for the albums themselves...
It will come as no surprise that I find the Photek sound more pleasing than that of the Chemical Brothers - despite the Chemical Brothers album offering an arguably broader range of sound than Photek's.
On Modus Operandi; 'Smoke Rings', 'Aleph 1' and '124' would be my pick of the album's content. Although there is no denying that the entire thing is fantastically produced and the quality of sound is great. Somewhat bizarrely it is the album's title track that is my least favourite - I'm really not a big fan of the overtly jazzy drum and bass sound. Decent album though, 6.5/10 for me.
As for Exit Planet Dust; firstly let me say I'm not a fan of 'segued' artist albums - you know, where there is no distinct gap between tracks but they're not actually 'mixed' in any constructive way...? This is, in places, such an album. Unfortunately. I like the dubby feel of 'One Too Many Mornings' and 'Alive Alone'. Other than those my favourite thing on here by a MILE - and still just about the best thing they've ever done is 'Song To The Siren' albeit that tragically they didn't use the fuller original version that they recorded as The Dust Brothers, whilst the full 10+ minute Sabres Of Paradise remix of it (released on Junior Boys Own) is genuinely a Top 20 of all time dance record contender. Again, decent album, for me a 6/10.
DHS-LP truly underway - looking forward to the next round of choices.
x
Monday, 10 June 2013
DHS 11 - Part 11 (H)
It has been over a month, very remiss of me - sincere apologies.
D:
Patton - very very lovely (must be made longer); Gerrard - beautiful and serene, goosebumps; Armstrong - a class act as always; Eurythmics - one of the most influential records in my life for sure, have removed it from my potentials list; Reed - indirectly this is also one of the most influential records in my life - simply superb.
S:
Jean Wright - classic; Chic - timeless classic, Bowie - quite comfortably, for my money anyway, one of his top 3 records; Sheila - many happy memories of 6th form, cracking record; Ross - well and absolutely truly one of the most classic tracks in this genre ever produced. I actually prefer "I Want your Love" as it retains a little understated moodiness, but this record is totally iconic and the production / sounds were, and still are, much coveted and relevant now (for purists anyway)
Not planned to be back-to-back with S's tribute at all, it's just a timing situation because I'm listening to one particular mix A LOT again recently due to the sunny weather.....
My next selection is a big nod to Mr Dave Mothersole for introducing me to a whole plethora of absolutely incredible music which was recorded and put together in the 80's but 95% of which has been new to my ears. It is the superb, melodic, chuggy, hypnotic and hugely varied sound of the early morning Goa parties c.'83-'89 which he summed up with his "Unveiling The Secret - The Roots of Trance" mix; itself a tribute to the mythical Laurent who conducted his mixing of music via cassette decks - quite incredible by all accounts. SO happy to have been introduced this music... the emotions I went through when I first heard the style were, dare I say it, very similar to how I felt as a 7 year old kid when I first heard acid house in the late 80's... someone build be a time machine.... If you haven't listened to Dave's mix for a while do go back and revisit it (Soundcloud) but for the meantime here are five of my (many) favourites from the mix:-
Habiba
Unveiling The Secret
Zoolookologie
(These last two just made me lose my mind when mixed together; absolute power - you will understand why this music is often termed as 'proto-trance' by Mothersole and others)
Jabdah
Humanoid Invasion.
Keep on keeping on,
H
D:
Patton - very very lovely (must be made longer); Gerrard - beautiful and serene, goosebumps; Armstrong - a class act as always; Eurythmics - one of the most influential records in my life for sure, have removed it from my potentials list; Reed - indirectly this is also one of the most influential records in my life - simply superb.
S:
Jean Wright - classic; Chic - timeless classic, Bowie - quite comfortably, for my money anyway, one of his top 3 records; Sheila - many happy memories of 6th form, cracking record; Ross - well and absolutely truly one of the most classic tracks in this genre ever produced. I actually prefer "I Want your Love" as it retains a little understated moodiness, but this record is totally iconic and the production / sounds were, and still are, much coveted and relevant now (for purists anyway)
Not planned to be back-to-back with S's tribute at all, it's just a timing situation because I'm listening to one particular mix A LOT again recently due to the sunny weather.....
My next selection is a big nod to Mr Dave Mothersole for introducing me to a whole plethora of absolutely incredible music which was recorded and put together in the 80's but 95% of which has been new to my ears. It is the superb, melodic, chuggy, hypnotic and hugely varied sound of the early morning Goa parties c.'83-'89 which he summed up with his "Unveiling The Secret - The Roots of Trance" mix; itself a tribute to the mythical Laurent who conducted his mixing of music via cassette decks - quite incredible by all accounts. SO happy to have been introduced this music... the emotions I went through when I first heard the style were, dare I say it, very similar to how I felt as a 7 year old kid when I first heard acid house in the late 80's... someone build be a time machine.... If you haven't listened to Dave's mix for a while do go back and revisit it (Soundcloud) but for the meantime here are five of my (many) favourites from the mix:-
Habiba
Unveiling The Secret
Zoolookologie
(These last two just made me lose my mind when mixed together; absolute power - you will understand why this music is often termed as 'proto-trance' by Mothersole and others)
Jabdah
Humanoid Invasion.
Keep on keeping on,
H
Sunday, 5 May 2013
DHS 11 - Part 10 (S)
Chaps, apologies for tardiness in updating - I'll make this as concise as possible in reparation...
H's 5;
The two tracks off the Jozif mix are just splendid - about as far up my alley as you can get... *ahem* Herbert is nice enough although, if I'm going to be absolutely honest, I prefer the other version of the Apparat tune which is beautiful - the 'noise' version is more intense but hey-ho... Zimmer - that 'Raincry' sample is a proper spine-tingling thing.
D's 5;
Mike Patton - kindly commission him to make a version at least four minutes longer. Lisa Gerrard - lovely, lovely, tone to her voice. Craig Armstrong deserves a LOT more of my attention - anything I've ever heard by him is wonderful - this 'Storm' tune proves it to me - lovely. Eurthymics - possibly THE most recognisable first two seconds of a record - classic. Lou Reed - a song partially about transvestite blow-jobs - what's not to love? Stone. Cold. Classic. Whatever that means...
My 5;
Staying with the 'five-from-one-artist-theme', this lot is all about Nile Rodgers.
A couple of years back I read a blog somewhere that suggested Nile Rodgers was battling cancer. I googled around it and sure enough it was true. And he was documenting his own struggle against it on his website. And then - at exactly the same time - I came across a CD box-set of 'Chic' productions which served as a timely reminder of the man's absolute dancefloor genius. Since then I've read more about him, marvelled at the extent of his influence across modern music, watched a truly brilliant recent BBC documentary about him and generally just been somewhat in awe. And then Daft Punk released this summer's earworm and guess who'd played the bassline and twiddled the studio knobs...
Picking a mere five was frankly daft but here goes - Nile Rodgers - absolute total and utter dance music GOD.
Norma Jean Wright - Saturday (Dimitri From Paris Remix)
Chic - I Want Your Love
David Bowie - Let's Dance
Sheila - Spacer
Diana Ross - I'm Coming Out
x
H's 5;
The two tracks off the Jozif mix are just splendid - about as far up my alley as you can get... *ahem* Herbert is nice enough although, if I'm going to be absolutely honest, I prefer the other version of the Apparat tune which is beautiful - the 'noise' version is more intense but hey-ho... Zimmer - that 'Raincry' sample is a proper spine-tingling thing.
D's 5;
Mike Patton - kindly commission him to make a version at least four minutes longer. Lisa Gerrard - lovely, lovely, tone to her voice. Craig Armstrong deserves a LOT more of my attention - anything I've ever heard by him is wonderful - this 'Storm' tune proves it to me - lovely. Eurthymics - possibly THE most recognisable first two seconds of a record - classic. Lou Reed - a song partially about transvestite blow-jobs - what's not to love? Stone. Cold. Classic. Whatever that means...
My 5;
Staying with the 'five-from-one-artist-theme', this lot is all about Nile Rodgers.
A couple of years back I read a blog somewhere that suggested Nile Rodgers was battling cancer. I googled around it and sure enough it was true. And he was documenting his own struggle against it on his website. And then - at exactly the same time - I came across a CD box-set of 'Chic' productions which served as a timely reminder of the man's absolute dancefloor genius. Since then I've read more about him, marvelled at the extent of his influence across modern music, watched a truly brilliant recent BBC documentary about him and generally just been somewhat in awe. And then Daft Punk released this summer's earworm and guess who'd played the bassline and twiddled the studio knobs...
Picking a mere five was frankly daft but here goes - Nile Rodgers - absolute total and utter dance music GOD.
Norma Jean Wright - Saturday (Dimitri From Paris Remix)
Chic - I Want Your Love
David Bowie - Let's Dance
Sheila - Spacer
Diana Ross - I'm Coming Out
x
Sunday, 21 April 2013
DHS 11 - Part 9 (D)
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
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
Tuesday, 9 April 2013
DHS 11 Part 8 - (H)
Some nice recent additions.
D
Mark Norman - I have to say this sounds pretty good loud, reminds me of the big stuff from late 90's.
SR - No real need to comment is there. Gobsmackingly beautiful gloriously accessible feel good lushness. That will have to suffice.
OMaM - like the vocal lilt/celtic influences. Grows with each play.
HoP - I loved this as a kid... then I went to uni and it just got battered to death and now I struggle to hear it at all. Sad that it got ruined really.
Jay - longevity tune to the max. Not played this for AGES and it's nice to have a break and come back to a track of this quality.... surprised myself with how many of the lyrics I seem to know. The Newport take off is utterly genius by the way.
S
Todd the God Terry. Prolific. Brilliant selection. Day in the Life - never knew this was him - got this on an old tape somewhere, class. Santa Ana - always made me smile with the spaghetti western rehash melody.... little did we know several people would go out and rehash others in the years to come... to my knowledge he's the first with that track; proper tune too. I guess Can you Party is esssntially a homage to the people and tunes he loved - bit busy at times but banging all the same. TOTALLY forgot about the Bjork remix... I used to drive my sister nuts by skipping her cd on when she played the single to this version (she was a bjork fan and loved the original)... what a cracking tune/remix this is; straight into my best of potentials.... Missing; wow - I was surprised at how this has stood the test of time, truly super production.... I've still got the cd single somewhere - caned this to death and so did everything we ever went to as kids - MASSIVE record and one that gauranteed some clunge on the dancefloor so it had that going for it too. Which was nice.
Been a funny old few weeks to be honest. Feel like I'm constantly moping over the past few years, but hey ho - the old ups and downs are to be expected in this weird and wonderful journey called life. One year on from a good mate's funeral and then a musical hero dies and really weirdly found myself taking it incredibly badly even though I never met the geezer... perhaps it was because he wrote one of THE most important electronic records of the 90's (imo)... maybe you feel bizarrely connected somehow - f@cked if I know. So here we go for another cathartic musical selection.
Two from jozif's recent beautiful balance mix, which was apparently penned to be a banger, but he changed after Dawson's passing. On DropBox I have already professed my love for Our Friends Electric (which jozif pitches right down - which is how I heard it being played in my head when I bought it last year) so I have picked a couple of my other fave's; one from the top of the mix (Got a Reason) as well as the final track. Both have melancholic elements to them, both are beautiful to my ears... first time I heard the vocal snippet/sample at the start of Slum Room with the start of the background melody underneath I knew I was in for something special. Absolutely lush tunes.
Herbert - this is an old fave from uni which I was reminded of when listening to TOU renaissance mix ...they use the Koze rmx which is bloody good but it immediately made me want to revisit the original, here it is. The LP is a bit too chin-strokey on the whole but I remember having about four absolute solid favourites and it was the first time I realised that jazzy/quirkily produced 4:4 music wasn't all tw@ish... some of it had real soul. I think the movements between moods is pretty well done in this record - it's as much an R&B track (in the old fashioned meaning) in that sense as it is a house tune.
Apparat - you know by now that I'm a big fan of this guy's stuff. I CANNOT for the life of me explain what it is that grips me about this - I suspect one or both of you will reprimand me for being mental and that it's just noise (as the title aptly points out).... it is however a superbly emotional production which I could talk about for a few minutes but won't. Suffice to say I think this is cleverly done, simply put: two big emotive waves of noise.
Hans Zimmer - This was saved for another of my "Influences" selections but there's no more appropriate time to post this than Scott Hardkiss's passing. He only needed the first three seconds of this wonderful record to create the apex sample for Raincry, the rest was just ace programming and knowing what drives a dancefloor. Nice to have this as a reference point which in itself is a pretty special piece of production and direction from Zimmer.
Embrace each day,
H
D
Mark Norman - I have to say this sounds pretty good loud, reminds me of the big stuff from late 90's.
SR - No real need to comment is there. Gobsmackingly beautiful gloriously accessible feel good lushness. That will have to suffice.
OMaM - like the vocal lilt/celtic influences. Grows with each play.
HoP - I loved this as a kid... then I went to uni and it just got battered to death and now I struggle to hear it at all. Sad that it got ruined really.
Jay - longevity tune to the max. Not played this for AGES and it's nice to have a break and come back to a track of this quality.... surprised myself with how many of the lyrics I seem to know. The Newport take off is utterly genius by the way.
S
Todd the God Terry. Prolific. Brilliant selection. Day in the Life - never knew this was him - got this on an old tape somewhere, class. Santa Ana - always made me smile with the spaghetti western rehash melody.... little did we know several people would go out and rehash others in the years to come... to my knowledge he's the first with that track; proper tune too. I guess Can you Party is esssntially a homage to the people and tunes he loved - bit busy at times but banging all the same. TOTALLY forgot about the Bjork remix... I used to drive my sister nuts by skipping her cd on when she played the single to this version (she was a bjork fan and loved the original)... what a cracking tune/remix this is; straight into my best of potentials.... Missing; wow - I was surprised at how this has stood the test of time, truly super production.... I've still got the cd single somewhere - caned this to death and so did everything we ever went to as kids - MASSIVE record and one that gauranteed some clunge on the dancefloor so it had that going for it too. Which was nice.
Been a funny old few weeks to be honest. Feel like I'm constantly moping over the past few years, but hey ho - the old ups and downs are to be expected in this weird and wonderful journey called life. One year on from a good mate's funeral and then a musical hero dies and really weirdly found myself taking it incredibly badly even though I never met the geezer... perhaps it was because he wrote one of THE most important electronic records of the 90's (imo)... maybe you feel bizarrely connected somehow - f@cked if I know. So here we go for another cathartic musical selection.
Two from jozif's recent beautiful balance mix, which was apparently penned to be a banger, but he changed after Dawson's passing. On DropBox I have already professed my love for Our Friends Electric (which jozif pitches right down - which is how I heard it being played in my head when I bought it last year) so I have picked a couple of my other fave's; one from the top of the mix (Got a Reason) as well as the final track. Both have melancholic elements to them, both are beautiful to my ears... first time I heard the vocal snippet/sample at the start of Slum Room with the start of the background melody underneath I knew I was in for something special. Absolutely lush tunes.
Herbert - this is an old fave from uni which I was reminded of when listening to TOU renaissance mix ...they use the Koze rmx which is bloody good but it immediately made me want to revisit the original, here it is. The LP is a bit too chin-strokey on the whole but I remember having about four absolute solid favourites and it was the first time I realised that jazzy/quirkily produced 4:4 music wasn't all tw@ish... some of it had real soul. I think the movements between moods is pretty well done in this record - it's as much an R&B track (in the old fashioned meaning) in that sense as it is a house tune.
Apparat - you know by now that I'm a big fan of this guy's stuff. I CANNOT for the life of me explain what it is that grips me about this - I suspect one or both of you will reprimand me for being mental and that it's just noise (as the title aptly points out).... it is however a superbly emotional production which I could talk about for a few minutes but won't. Suffice to say I think this is cleverly done, simply put: two big emotive waves of noise.
Hans Zimmer - This was saved for another of my "Influences" selections but there's no more appropriate time to post this than Scott Hardkiss's passing. He only needed the first three seconds of this wonderful record to create the apex sample for Raincry, the rest was just ace programming and knowing what drives a dancefloor. Nice to have this as a reference point which in itself is a pretty special piece of production and direction from Zimmer.
Embrace each day,
H
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