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
Sunday, 5 May 2013
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
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
DHS 11 Part 7 - (S)
Is it just more or is each update to the main Spotify software making it worse?
The Charmels - lovely old soul tune
Wu-Tang Clan - always struggled a bot with WTC but this is ok - mainly because of the sample from the above...
Chromatics - completely new to me and growing
Erol Alkan - again new, again growing
CeCe Rogers - nothing to say so will simply doff cap *doffs cap*
Mark Norman vs Hole In One - wondered where it was going and then that synth riff hit and suddenly I was very familiar with it albeit that I could never have named it or known what it was - big old tune
Sigur Ros - nothing to say so will simply doff cap *doffs cap*
Of Monsters And Men - intially the Bjorkyness of the vocal put me off slightly but I've got over that now - will listen to more of their stuff for sure and what better justification does this whole DHS thing have than that?
House Of Pain - confession time... I've never liked this tune. Feel like I should apologise but I'm not going to. Classic for sure, but just not for me.
Jay-Z - nothing to say so will simply doff cap *doffs cap* (Although will add that the 'Newport State Of Mind' parody is THE best parody ever - '... and if you come and visit use the designated parking zones...' - genius)
My five...
Quite simply two words; Todd Terry.
There could've been others - God knows he's churned out thousands of tunes - but, roughly in chronological order, these are my five from 'The God'.
Black Riot - A Day In The Life
Orange Lemon - Dreams Of Santa Anna
Royal House - Can You Party
Bjork - Hyperballad (Tee's Freeze Mix)
Everything But The Girl - Missing (Todd Terry Club Mix)
Honourable mentions to the Todd Terry Freeze Mix of 'Don't Go' by Yazoo and 'Weekend' by The Todd Terry Project but I could only go with five.
S
x
The Charmels - lovely old soul tune
Wu-Tang Clan - always struggled a bot with WTC but this is ok - mainly because of the sample from the above...
Chromatics - completely new to me and growing
Erol Alkan - again new, again growing
CeCe Rogers - nothing to say so will simply doff cap *doffs cap*
Mark Norman vs Hole In One - wondered where it was going and then that synth riff hit and suddenly I was very familiar with it albeit that I could never have named it or known what it was - big old tune
Sigur Ros - nothing to say so will simply doff cap *doffs cap*
Of Monsters And Men - intially the Bjorkyness of the vocal put me off slightly but I've got over that now - will listen to more of their stuff for sure and what better justification does this whole DHS thing have than that?
House Of Pain - confession time... I've never liked this tune. Feel like I should apologise but I'm not going to. Classic for sure, but just not for me.
Jay-Z - nothing to say so will simply doff cap *doffs cap* (Although will add that the 'Newport State Of Mind' parody is THE best parody ever - '... and if you come and visit use the designated parking zones...' - genius)
My five...
Quite simply two words; Todd Terry.
There could've been others - God knows he's churned out thousands of tunes - but, roughly in chronological order, these are my five from 'The God'.
Black Riot - A Day In The Life
Orange Lemon - Dreams Of Santa Anna
Royal House - Can You Party
Bjork - Hyperballad (Tee's Freeze Mix)
Everything But The Girl - Missing (Todd Terry Club Mix)
Honourable mentions to the Todd Terry Freeze Mix of 'Don't Go' by Yazoo and 'Weekend' by The Todd Terry Project but I could only go with five.
S
x
Sunday, 10 March 2013
DHS 11 Part 6 - (D)
Apologies for the lateness of my contribution gentlemen - its been a chaotic couple of weeks that shows no signs of abating for a month or 2 yet, but I've carved out some spotify time to add some tunes, really, if im honest just so I get some back in the not too distant future - as your last selections from you both contained some stellar choices. Well played, well played indeed:
Sully...
'Woozy with Cider' it really is very lovely, not something that enjoys too many plays but im glad to have it now - very original with nice piano and an understated voice.
'Matildas Dream' had already checked this on your top 10 for 2012 and it stood out there. Really nice dubby prog house track - love the 'insistency' (Is that a word ?) and a great hypnotic use of the female vocal.
'The Fugitive' you could be mistaken for thinking this is BSPF on an initial listen, but you'd be fooling yourself. Its a great early night foot-tapping track to begin with but then it really gets quite big indeed - would work perfectly as the transition from warm up to bigger things. Top track.
'Schwindelig' I have a great Ian O'Donovan mix of a track called 'sanctuary' that I hammered for a while way back when, and hes done a nice job here. Another very pleasing melodic house track here Kev which the breakbeats really enhance - the strings get bigger and I'd say it falls into the same category as the previous track - would definitely play this.
'Sedulous' Heard this at Adrian's of course and its very big indeed - the synth stabs really make it, but the whole thing is wonderfully produced and has a cracking break with a wonderful vocal in it. Just have no idea why he keeps going on about hummus. Maybe he just really likes it.
For me your best selection for a while Kev - every single one a winner. Marvellous.
Hodge...
'As Long as Ive got you' Oh my, what a track this - not my usual fare, but fuck me that doris has some pipes on her doesnt she ? Its the vocal that takes this onto another level 'I feel free as a bird...' worth it for that part alone.
'C.R.E.A.M.' Ha ha 'word up' they like saying this dont they ? Never got into wu-tang at all before but this is good. The Charmels tune really works well and the rapping is pretty good, and its very slickly produced. Not sure I'll be checking any other WT stuff though
'I want Your love' hmmmm this is a strange one I think. Nothing about it that I dont like, yet the whole thing together doesnt really do anything for me. Have listened many times and just cant do any better than that - its nice enough but nothing more for me.
'Forever Dolphin Love' Oh my, what on earth is this record all about ? Its like several different tracks meshed together. A great melody in there, slightly weird vocal, then it seems like its going to be a really good housey record, which it kind of is, then gets big with the melody again but loses some of the good housey-ness in the process. Cant really fault it, and its brilliantly creative, but again the whole thing doesnt do it for me. No idea why not though !
'Someday' Hmmm dont really like this - seem like this ilk was done much better by others, bizarre inc, gat decor, Alison Limerick for example. Its ok, But Ive heard better. No actually, Im being harsh here - its just Ive heard the others so many times and Ive never really liked US garage tracks much, this just feels like its been done to death already. But hey maybe this guy was there first ?? I have no idea...
Absolutely tremendous work fellas, an absolute treat for me - thank you. Here's what I've got:
Hole in One 'Life's Too Short'
This was an absolutely massive record for me back in the day - end of the 90's I think. Adore that tune, and hadn't heard a crowd sample added in before - the clapping and cheering really adds to it I think. A bit marmite I expect, but I love it. (the only version on spot is by some guy called Mark Norman who's obviously remixed it, but its as good as the original)
Sigur Ros 'Hoppipolla'
In homage to the greatness of the Ros after the killer gig on Thursday. Their most accessible record I think, and definitely in their top 5 for me - killer tune, killer vocal. Immense.
Of Monsters and Men 'From Finner'
A mate went to a gig from this lot and as they are Icelandic it piqued my interest. Their track 'little talks' has had some airplay I think, but for me this is the standout track of the album 'My Head is an Animal' (which i recommend - thoroughly enjoyable). Love her vocal and a great arrangement of the track that keeps it really interesting.
House of Pain 'Jump Around'
One of the greatest hip-hop records ever for my money. Killer riff, great rapping and some of the best lyrics anywhere ever 'I'll serve your ass like John McEnroe, if your girl steps up im smacking the ho' excellent stuff. If a touch misogynistic.
Jay-Z 'Empire State of Mind'
Not sure how this got missed out, possibly because it was ubiquitous I guess. Hip-hop's greatest ever on top form. And of course there's never a bad reason to check out one of the funniest parodies evr made.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eijc2tGe-zM
One love
Sully...
'Woozy with Cider' it really is very lovely, not something that enjoys too many plays but im glad to have it now - very original with nice piano and an understated voice.
'Matildas Dream' had already checked this on your top 10 for 2012 and it stood out there. Really nice dubby prog house track - love the 'insistency' (Is that a word ?) and a great hypnotic use of the female vocal.
'The Fugitive' you could be mistaken for thinking this is BSPF on an initial listen, but you'd be fooling yourself. Its a great early night foot-tapping track to begin with but then it really gets quite big indeed - would work perfectly as the transition from warm up to bigger things. Top track.
'Schwindelig' I have a great Ian O'Donovan mix of a track called 'sanctuary' that I hammered for a while way back when, and hes done a nice job here. Another very pleasing melodic house track here Kev which the breakbeats really enhance - the strings get bigger and I'd say it falls into the same category as the previous track - would definitely play this.
'Sedulous' Heard this at Adrian's of course and its very big indeed - the synth stabs really make it, but the whole thing is wonderfully produced and has a cracking break with a wonderful vocal in it. Just have no idea why he keeps going on about hummus. Maybe he just really likes it.
For me your best selection for a while Kev - every single one a winner. Marvellous.
Hodge...
'As Long as Ive got you' Oh my, what a track this - not my usual fare, but fuck me that doris has some pipes on her doesnt she ? Its the vocal that takes this onto another level 'I feel free as a bird...' worth it for that part alone.
'C.R.E.A.M.' Ha ha 'word up' they like saying this dont they ? Never got into wu-tang at all before but this is good. The Charmels tune really works well and the rapping is pretty good, and its very slickly produced. Not sure I'll be checking any other WT stuff though
'I want Your love' hmmmm this is a strange one I think. Nothing about it that I dont like, yet the whole thing together doesnt really do anything for me. Have listened many times and just cant do any better than that - its nice enough but nothing more for me.
'Forever Dolphin Love' Oh my, what on earth is this record all about ? Its like several different tracks meshed together. A great melody in there, slightly weird vocal, then it seems like its going to be a really good housey record, which it kind of is, then gets big with the melody again but loses some of the good housey-ness in the process. Cant really fault it, and its brilliantly creative, but again the whole thing doesnt do it for me. No idea why not though !
'Someday' Hmmm dont really like this - seem like this ilk was done much better by others, bizarre inc, gat decor, Alison Limerick for example. Its ok, But Ive heard better. No actually, Im being harsh here - its just Ive heard the others so many times and Ive never really liked US garage tracks much, this just feels like its been done to death already. But hey maybe this guy was there first ?? I have no idea...
Absolutely tremendous work fellas, an absolute treat for me - thank you. Here's what I've got:
Hole in One 'Life's Too Short'
This was an absolutely massive record for me back in the day - end of the 90's I think. Adore that tune, and hadn't heard a crowd sample added in before - the clapping and cheering really adds to it I think. A bit marmite I expect, but I love it. (the only version on spot is by some guy called Mark Norman who's obviously remixed it, but its as good as the original)
Sigur Ros 'Hoppipolla'
In homage to the greatness of the Ros after the killer gig on Thursday. Their most accessible record I think, and definitely in their top 5 for me - killer tune, killer vocal. Immense.
Of Monsters and Men 'From Finner'
A mate went to a gig from this lot and as they are Icelandic it piqued my interest. Their track 'little talks' has had some airplay I think, but for me this is the standout track of the album 'My Head is an Animal' (which i recommend - thoroughly enjoyable). Love her vocal and a great arrangement of the track that keeps it really interesting.
House of Pain 'Jump Around'
One of the greatest hip-hop records ever for my money. Killer riff, great rapping and some of the best lyrics anywhere ever 'I'll serve your ass like John McEnroe, if your girl steps up im smacking the ho' excellent stuff. If a touch misogynistic.
Jay-Z 'Empire State of Mind'
Not sure how this got missed out, possibly because it was ubiquitous I guess. Hip-hop's greatest ever on top form. And of course there's never a bad reason to check out one of the funniest parodies evr made.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eijc2tGe-zM
One love
Saturday, 16 February 2013
DHS 11 - Part 5 (H)
D
Households - this is really very lovely and and is a bit too short in my opinion! Would like to hear it grow further!
Not Giving in - not really my scene poppy d'n'b, but this is passable likely due to the soulful vocal/s
Cream - raised a smile when it kicked off the recent OOTO......
Butterflies - can't put my finger on why this is so good but it really is a superb jump-up track.... think this might go well with "Wallace" by Andhim........ when you get to 3 mins it really starts to deliver. great party track.
101 - as ever totally sultry, lush vocals.... want to give this LP a good listen soon. Comfortably up there in my top three female soloists of the modern era.
S
Woozy with Cider - I really don't know what to say about this track just yet.... i know it's beautifully melancholic but i just can't really make out how i feel about it.... very enigmatic - will be revisiting quite a bit i imagine.
Matildas Dream - for some reason this makes me want to drop the Chuck Roberts vocal over the top... just a little bit, not for the whole thing....in the beginning there was Jack...maybe it's just my ears playing up again....great track, straight into my masterlist.
The Fugitive - straight up modern deep house classic, Ben Watts Buzzin Fly label, i believe - wouldnt expect anything less in terms of quality - mint tune.
Schwindelig (IOD rmx) - I wrote something quite vitriolic about this and then remembered myself and thought it was both immature and unneccessary. Suffice to say: I feel let down by the remix (especially given the man in the chair doing the job, whose work i am usually fond of) considering the absolutely outstanding class of the original track. Hugely disappointing. I made it all the way through on the third attempt in order to be able to pass judgment fully and I'm really sorry, I have tried, I just cannot 'do' this remix. Part of it is like a fucking Guetta track (sorry that just leaked out at the end - I tried my hardest)
Sedulous - my #2 track I've heard this year thus far... monstrous. Highly, highly addictive.
H
INFLUENCES PT.III
The Charmels - stone. cold. classic.....music; vocals; production all 100% perfect.
Wu Tang Clan - hopefully this explains the title of your recent house track on OOTO...taken from 1993's best hip hop LP by a country mile... this was THE tune of the year..that's not conjecture it was voted in Hip Hop Connection magazine by the readers and industry alike during 1994 (yep I do remember it, sdly). nb/ I think, I stress the word think, that after this track the slang cheese or more recently "cheddar" became widely used and accepted as a nickname for money (and later drugs also, because they obviously = cash, ultimtely) in gangster lingo in the USA ... Cash.Rules.Everything.Around.Me (cream) .... hopefully don't need to explain the link further...enough dairy related ebonics. Onward...
Chromatics - there's a few important tracks off this LP which i only heard a couple of years ago (one of them being edited and included on the Drive soundtrack a year or so ago).... poisonous guitar lick, some nice melodies and a quite saddened yet intruiging vocal which shows tinges of hope then tails off into sounding almost "I'm quite bored"... makes it almost all the more appealing somehow - again; might just be my ears.
Erol Alkan - what better way to evoke the 80's than become obsessed and inspired by a track written in 2007, get yourself hopelessly high, waffle down a microphone about dolphin love and people with no hair, write a quite soul destroyingly beautiful synth melody, drop prelim beat, let it go electronically weird/introverted for a minute, use tacky bubble-gum electro-pop drum pattern, throw beautiful synth back in, let it all mingle and build.......surely all that's left to do is drop in a melancholic balearic guitar solo to finish. Your work here is done Erol. You nutjob. p.s I love you.
CeCe Rogers - undoubtedly one of THE most influential tracks in the modern era of electronic music, not just because of that piano lick but because of the sentiment at the heart of the record which is subconciously/consciously one of the reasons we, of the rave generation, love dance music.... equality, superb shared experiences, freedom, coming together to enjoy life. Finding out about this record as a kid researching Liquid's sample was like a monumentous epiphany - I swear down; I almost cried. It's the soul equivalent of a hippy record, but fuck me hard is it good. Only sorry I couldn't find a fuller version on Spot.
KOKO,
H x
Households - this is really very lovely and and is a bit too short in my opinion! Would like to hear it grow further!
Not Giving in - not really my scene poppy d'n'b, but this is passable likely due to the soulful vocal/s
Cream - raised a smile when it kicked off the recent OOTO......
Butterflies - can't put my finger on why this is so good but it really is a superb jump-up track.... think this might go well with "Wallace" by Andhim........ when you get to 3 mins it really starts to deliver. great party track.
101 - as ever totally sultry, lush vocals.... want to give this LP a good listen soon. Comfortably up there in my top three female soloists of the modern era.
S
Woozy with Cider - I really don't know what to say about this track just yet.... i know it's beautifully melancholic but i just can't really make out how i feel about it.... very enigmatic - will be revisiting quite a bit i imagine.
Matildas Dream - for some reason this makes me want to drop the Chuck Roberts vocal over the top... just a little bit, not for the whole thing....in the beginning there was Jack...maybe it's just my ears playing up again....great track, straight into my masterlist.
The Fugitive - straight up modern deep house classic, Ben Watts Buzzin Fly label, i believe - wouldnt expect anything less in terms of quality - mint tune.
Schwindelig (IOD rmx) - I wrote something quite vitriolic about this and then remembered myself and thought it was both immature and unneccessary. Suffice to say: I feel let down by the remix (especially given the man in the chair doing the job, whose work i am usually fond of) considering the absolutely outstanding class of the original track. Hugely disappointing. I made it all the way through on the third attempt in order to be able to pass judgment fully and I'm really sorry, I have tried, I just cannot 'do' this remix. Part of it is like a fucking Guetta track (sorry that just leaked out at the end - I tried my hardest)
Sedulous - my #2 track I've heard this year thus far... monstrous. Highly, highly addictive.
H
INFLUENCES PT.III
The Charmels - stone. cold. classic.....music; vocals; production all 100% perfect.
Wu Tang Clan - hopefully this explains the title of your recent house track on OOTO...taken from 1993's best hip hop LP by a country mile... this was THE tune of the year..that's not conjecture it was voted in Hip Hop Connection magazine by the readers and industry alike during 1994 (yep I do remember it, sdly). nb/ I think, I stress the word think, that after this track the slang cheese or more recently "cheddar" became widely used and accepted as a nickname for money (and later drugs also, because they obviously = cash, ultimtely) in gangster lingo in the USA ... Cash.Rules.Everything.Around.Me (cream) .... hopefully don't need to explain the link further...enough dairy related ebonics. Onward...
Chromatics - there's a few important tracks off this LP which i only heard a couple of years ago (one of them being edited and included on the Drive soundtrack a year or so ago).... poisonous guitar lick, some nice melodies and a quite saddened yet intruiging vocal which shows tinges of hope then tails off into sounding almost "I'm quite bored"... makes it almost all the more appealing somehow - again; might just be my ears.
Erol Alkan - what better way to evoke the 80's than become obsessed and inspired by a track written in 2007, get yourself hopelessly high, waffle down a microphone about dolphin love and people with no hair, write a quite soul destroyingly beautiful synth melody, drop prelim beat, let it go electronically weird/introverted for a minute, use tacky bubble-gum electro-pop drum pattern, throw beautiful synth back in, let it all mingle and build.......surely all that's left to do is drop in a melancholic balearic guitar solo to finish. Your work here is done Erol. You nutjob. p.s I love you.
CeCe Rogers - undoubtedly one of THE most influential tracks in the modern era of electronic music, not just because of that piano lick but because of the sentiment at the heart of the record which is subconciously/consciously one of the reasons we, of the rave generation, love dance music.... equality, superb shared experiences, freedom, coming together to enjoy life. Finding out about this record as a kid researching Liquid's sample was like a monumentous epiphany - I swear down; I almost cried. It's the soul equivalent of a hippy record, but fuck me hard is it good. Only sorry I couldn't find a fuller version on Spot.
KOKO,
H x
Monday, 11 February 2013
DHS 11 - Part 4 (S)
H
Clark - Black Stone - latest addition to the DHS tradition of an occasional, mournful, piano piece. Lovely.
Goth-Trad - Man In The Maze - First time through I didn't like it, second time was better - listening now it's ok and I'd like to hear it placed in the context of the mix you originally referred to when you picked it...
AES DANA - Borderline - *ahem* First time through I didn't like it, second time was better - listening now it's ok and I'd like to hear it placed in the context of the mix you originally referred to when you picked it...
Erol Alkan & Boys Noize - Waves (Chilly Gonzalez Piano Remake) - get quite excited by the first two minutes of this each time I hear it, then it just tails off somehow...
Lee Burridge & Mathew Dekay - Fur fie Liebe - quite simply just a very, very good record - beautifully understated, wonderfully economical - EVERY single little component adds something and there isn't a gramme of flab on it
D
Sleeping At Last - Households - it's growing on me. Slowly, but it is growing.
Rudimental - Not Giving In - I get the sentiment aspect but I struggle with the fella's voice a bit, which is a real shame 'cos the ebb and flow of the track, especially its peaks, are lush.
Claptone - Cream - Heard this a couple of times at Adrian's and a couple more since on LSD2 - very nice indeed - the rising/falling strings in the middle remind me very much of a blue vinyl bootleg I used to play *gets distracted searching on Discogs*
Justin Martin - Butterflies - noticed this was on Sasha's recent Beatport chart, and it's well-picked by you from there - made me dig out some other Justin Martin stuff, see below...
Alicia Keys - 101 - hmmmm, I've tried but I can't get it to work. Bound to be one of those tunes that I hear sometime later this year playing out of someone's window or something and will hit me instantly...
S
Woozy With Cider - worth including for the name alone. Could easily get pretentious about this but will suffice to simply say it's lovely. Really, really, lovely.
Matilda's Dream - I placed this at number three in my top ten tunes of last year, describing it as, 'trench-deep-squelchy-acid-spangles.'
The Fugitive (Sei A Remix) - triggered by D's inclusion of his Justin Martin track above. Possibly the first bit of work by Sei A that I picked up - absolute stonker from a few years back - played this on many an occasion and think I used it in a mix but can't remember which one...
Schwindelig (Ian O'Donovan Remix) - first time a track by Kollektiv Turmstrasse has made a DHS list - somewhat surprising but... There are some tracks you just KNOW are big. This is one of them.
Sedulous (Mickey Remix) - second appearance for Sebastien Tellier on DHS. First time round for him went very well - I'm pretty confident this will do fairly well for him too. Used it on LSD2. As ever his lyrics simply aren't worth the effort required discern them - just make up some sounds of your own that fit and bounce along to it...
Clark - Black Stone - latest addition to the DHS tradition of an occasional, mournful, piano piece. Lovely.
Goth-Trad - Man In The Maze - First time through I didn't like it, second time was better - listening now it's ok and I'd like to hear it placed in the context of the mix you originally referred to when you picked it...
AES DANA - Borderline - *ahem* First time through I didn't like it, second time was better - listening now it's ok and I'd like to hear it placed in the context of the mix you originally referred to when you picked it...
Erol Alkan & Boys Noize - Waves (Chilly Gonzalez Piano Remake) - get quite excited by the first two minutes of this each time I hear it, then it just tails off somehow...
Lee Burridge & Mathew Dekay - Fur fie Liebe - quite simply just a very, very good record - beautifully understated, wonderfully economical - EVERY single little component adds something and there isn't a gramme of flab on it
D
Sleeping At Last - Households - it's growing on me. Slowly, but it is growing.
Rudimental - Not Giving In - I get the sentiment aspect but I struggle with the fella's voice a bit, which is a real shame 'cos the ebb and flow of the track, especially its peaks, are lush.
Claptone - Cream - Heard this a couple of times at Adrian's and a couple more since on LSD2 - very nice indeed - the rising/falling strings in the middle remind me very much of a blue vinyl bootleg I used to play *gets distracted searching on Discogs*
Justin Martin - Butterflies - noticed this was on Sasha's recent Beatport chart, and it's well-picked by you from there - made me dig out some other Justin Martin stuff, see below...
Alicia Keys - 101 - hmmmm, I've tried but I can't get it to work. Bound to be one of those tunes that I hear sometime later this year playing out of someone's window or something and will hit me instantly...
S
Woozy With Cider - worth including for the name alone. Could easily get pretentious about this but will suffice to simply say it's lovely. Really, really, lovely.
Matilda's Dream - I placed this at number three in my top ten tunes of last year, describing it as, 'trench-deep-squelchy-acid-spangles.'
The Fugitive (Sei A Remix) - triggered by D's inclusion of his Justin Martin track above. Possibly the first bit of work by Sei A that I picked up - absolute stonker from a few years back - played this on many an occasion and think I used it in a mix but can't remember which one...
Schwindelig (Ian O'Donovan Remix) - first time a track by Kollektiv Turmstrasse has made a DHS list - somewhat surprising but... There are some tracks you just KNOW are big. This is one of them.
Sedulous (Mickey Remix) - second appearance for Sebastien Tellier on DHS. First time round for him went very well - I'm pretty confident this will do fairly well for him too. Used it on LSD2. As ever his lyrics simply aren't worth the effort required discern them - just make up some sounds of your own that fit and bounce along to it...
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