Winter Warmers

Apologies for the lack of postage last month. But never fear, I have some Christmas prezzies to keep you toasty throughout the winter months 🙂

First up is a brand new winter mixtape from one of my favourite DJs, Kissy Sell Out. Anyone who’s ever listened to the Kissy Klub show on Radio 1 will know this man’s sets are always big, bouncy and very fun, and this mix is no exception. 40 minutes of wobbles, wizardry and high-energy-jump-up-electro-rock’n’rave-bassline-speed-garage madness the way only Kissy knows how.

Kissy Sell Out – Winter Mixtape

TRACKLIST:
1. Kissy Klub Intro #90 – Pamela’s Excellent Adventure (Podcast Version)
2. Luigi Boccherini – Il Rosario
3. Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman – Time to Say Goodbye (Kissy Klub Version)
4. Afrojack – Replica (Kissy Klub Version)
5. Slaughterhouse Rydims – 91 Lick
6. Aphrodite – Style From The Dark Side (Kissy Klub Version)
7. Lumidee – I’ll Never Leave (Acapella)
8. Blex – Lazy Legs
9. Katy B – On A Mission (Kissy Klub Version)
10. Jessie J – Do It Like A Dude (Jakwob Remix – Kissy Klub Version)
11. Dan Aux – Klub Kids (Kissy Klub Version)
12. Uffie – First Love (Kissy Klub Version)
13. Crystal Fighters – I Love London (Highbloo Remix)
14. Larry Tee & Princess Superstar – Licky (Hervé Remix)
15. Redlight feat. Ms Dynamite – What You Talking About!? (Acapella)
16. Kele – On The Lam (Swerve & Adjected Deleted Remix)
17. Zeds Dead – Rudeboy (Swerve & Adjected Deleted Remix)
18. Nicolas Hooper – Fireworks (Kissy Klub Version)
19. Kissy Sell Out Vs The Streets – Put Your Phone Back (Demo)
20. 16Bit – Jump
21. Bone Thugs & Harmony – Brim Low (Kissy Klub Version)
22. Freestylers, Pendulum, MC Sirreal – Painkiller (Kouncilhouse Remix)
23. Example – So Many Roads (Hervé Remix – Kissy Klub Version)
24. Paul Chambers – Yeah, Techno! (Kissy Klub Version)
25. Skepta – Rescue Me (Hervé Remix – Kissy Klub Version)
26. Boys Noize – Nerve (Hey Today! Remix- Kissy Klub Version)
27. Jon & Vangelis – The Friends of Mr. Cairo (Kissy Klub Version)
28. Porn Kings – Up To No Good (The Squatters Remix)
29. Eric Bent – Georgy Porgy (Acapella)
30. Late Of The Pier – Best In Class (Soulwax Remix)
31. Far East Movement – Like A G6 (Kissy Sell Out Remix)
32. Art Vs. Science – Magic Fountain (Kissy Sell Out’s Dark Crystal Version)
33. Cobra – Calm Before The Storm Ft Jay Harvey & MC Vapour (Kissy Klub Version)
34. AC Slater – Jack Got Jacked (Jack Beats Remix – Kissy Klub Version)
35. The Hues Corporation Vs Bart B More – Brap The Boat! (Kissy Klub Version)
36. John Martyn – Dancing (Kissy Klub Version)
37. Chris Coco & Sacha Puttnam – In Trutina (Carmina Burana)

The latest release on Kissy’s San City High label, Zeds Dead’s “Rude Boy”, is out now on Beatport.

Next, Dutch producer Quinten 909 was nice enough to give away this free disco house jam the other day. Put on your dancing shoes and GET DOWN!

And finally, one of the biggest and most hyped tunes of the year, Burns & Fred Falke’s “You Stopped Loving Me”, got given a collaborative reworking by Leeds’ Ghosts Of Venice and Toronto’s Mix Chopin. I cannot fathom why this remix was rejected for the official release, but no matter, because the boys gave it out for free anyway. Stick it to da man!

Well that’s about all from me this month, take care!

AY! x

The Phantom’s Revenge – Charlie EP

One of my favourite producers The Phantom’s Revenge is back with a new EP “Charlie”, out very soon on Italian label La Valigetta. Five cuts of thumping beats, spliced-up samples and filtered disco madness.

Peep the title track here, set to some footage from “Dawn Of The Dead”.

Bonus 320 bang0rz:

Dan Hartman – Instant Replay (The Phantom’s Revenge Remix)

Reset! – If We Try (The Phantom’s Revenge Remix)

 

Till next month
AY! x

Style Of Eye

Think the title of this post says it all! I first discovered Style of Eye in early 2008 when a friend sent me a link to “clown” to listen to I immediately fell in love with the bouncy style of tech house that I was hearing. Since this first introduction to Style of Eye the swede has grown remixing some of the top names in the industry releasing on the biggest labels and touring the globe.

Although this was my first introduction to the now super producer he had been releasing records for many years before. One of his earliest releases was “Gioco” which came out on Classic Records in 2004 from this you can hear that his production style has’nt changed a great deal over the years the sound has just become more popular with the moving times of dance music. The Bass has that distorted bounce that you hear on so many records now like the Riva Starr remix of Martin Brothers Steel Drum and the drums have so much percussion and depth that you just get sucked in!

One of my more recent favourites from Style Of Eye was a remix he made a couple of months ago for Progressive House outfit MVSEVM which was released on Discobelle records. The remix transformed the song into a fun club track but it would also sit well in any circus don’t ask me why thats what it reminds me of!

So after years of releasing records and stripping other peoples tracks for parts and then reworking them Style Of Eye has established a name for himself as one of the biggest names in the business and one that we will be seeing for many years to come hopefully and with his most recent releases on Fools Gold and Horehaus I don’t see a dip in form happening any time soon. Don’t believe me take a listen for yourself and enjoy this sneaky edit he did of Fake Blood “Mars”.

Fake Blood – Mars (Style Of Eye’s Edit To Debit Remix)
Sorry once again guys for the lack of post from me last month hope this makes up for it.

Bobby

Always With The Joking

One of the acts out there that is making consistently fantastic music is Canada’s Jokers Of The Scene ( http://www.myspace.com/sceneofthejoker ) . On A-Trak’s Fools Gold Records, they have put out some of the best dance music of the last few years, consistently managing to marry dancefloor effectiveness with a real depth of quality in their songs, eschewing the “Bang0rz 1st, music later” attitude of many modern producers.

They have been around for a few years now, but first really blew up with the anthemic Baggy Bottom Boys, which was a huge international hit, and brought a huge rave breakdown into the middle of a moody tech-electro monster.

They were actually quite a few releases deep at this stage though, as well as having put out numerous remixes. One of their earliest remixes was a little known, rather odd, hip hop track by some lad called Kid Cudi. Many people are completely unaware that the JOTS were on the original release alongside what came to be one of the biggest electro tracks of recent times, the Crookers remix. But The JOTS remix is excellent in its own right, at first a much more laid back twist on the track, with a great half-time breakdown in the middle before it really takes off.

Kid Cudi – Day N Nite (JOTS Remix)

After the huge success of Baggy Bottom Boys, the star of the JOTS continued to rise. One of their best remixes came later in 2009, with their fantastic remix of Tembisa Funk.

McLloyd – Tembisa Funk (JOTS Remix)

With their heavy duty sound and consistent quality, it seemed perfect when they and Boy 8-Bit exchanged remixes on Wolfen and Revolting Joks. Boy 8-Bit apparently described their reworking of Wolfen as the song he had meant to write when he originally made the track. It certainly is a fantastic remix, as is his of Revolting Joks, their most recent single, and a fantastic track in its own right.

Boy 8-Bit – Wolfen (JOTS Remix)

Jokers Of The Scene – Revolting Joks

And amongst all the great originals, and remixes of their peers, they even found time to achieve the impossible – they turned a Mika track into something listenable. And indeed, calling it “listenable” does the remix a disservice – this is a supremely well crafted piece of music, turning a cheesy uplifting pop track into a brooding, sinister downtempo techno masterpiece.

became this… Mika – We Are Golden (JOTS remix)

Jokers of The Scene are currently touring, taking their considerable DJ game all around Europe – for an example of their mixing prowess, try http://happyplease.us/index.php?/tapes/jokers-of-the-scene/

———————–

Santero

 

LBCK

California duo LBCK (an acronym for “Long Beach City Kids”) , made up of Alex Noblé and Luigi III, are one of many up-and-coming French house acts that have caught my eye (and ears) this year. I first came across them through a remix they did for my friend Magna, and I’ve been following their work ever since. Their punchy drums and chopped up sample grooves have gained them support from big names in the scene such as Breakbot and Xinobi, among others.

LBCK – Made For Love [320kbps]

LBCK – Disco Thrills [320kbps]

Magna – Are You Ready (LBCK Remix) [Buy at Bandcamp]

LBCK’s new EP “Start” is out 4th October 2010 on On The Fruit Records. You can preview the EP on Soundcloud below.

LBCK – START EP (release date 04 october 2010) by On The Fruit Records

Till next month,

AY! x

(P.S. Sorry the posts have been a little erratic recently, the team have been a bit busy with other things.)

Pet Shopping

One of my earliest favourite groups also happens to have been one of the best pop acts of the last 30 years, and a real pioneering force in electronic music (despite often not getting the recognition their remixes and B-sides deserved). Pet Shop Boys have been writing hit music since the early 1980s – for this post I am going to focus on the stuff that I know best, from their earlier albums and releases.

Named after some friends who worked in a pet shop in Ealing, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe first met in an electronics shop in Chelsea in 1981. Tennant worked for Smash Hits, and on a trip to New York to interview The Police he used the opportunity to meet with a hero of his; Hi-NRG producer Bobby O, who suggested making a record together. That record was West End Girls. It made some waves in various scenes in the USA, and was a minor hit in Belgium and France.

After parting with Bobby O and signing with Parlophone, they released Opportunities (Lets Make Lots Of Money), which only managed to chart at 116 in the UK. But the new version of West End Girls, recorded with Stephen Hague, entered the charts in October 1985, and started a remarkable rise which saw it reach #1 by January 1986. It went on to sell 1.5 million copies, and was #1 in 9 countries, including the USA.

The album Please followed (so named because they wanted people to be able to say “could I have the new Pet Shop Boys album, ‘Please’?”, and you could be forgiven for thinking that this new band were another synth pop band making synth pop hits. Then some rather different things started happening.

First of all came the brilliant remix album “Disco”. It seems strange to imagine it now, but the remix was a pretty new artform in the mid-1980s, with few people indulging in it. For a mainstream artist to put out a 6-track album of extended dance remixes was very unusual. But what really catches your attention is just how good these remixes are – here are my 2 personal favourites.

But then something much, much stranger happened; It Couldn’t Happen Here. If people were still harbouring the impression that the Pet Shop Boys were a normal pop band, this surely will have been the moment when the penny dropped that they were anything but. A surreal and sometimes baffling film, it is nevertheless well worth watching if you are a fan of the group and their videos. It was originally envisaged as an hour long film based around 1987’s album ‘Actually’, but grew into a full length feature that was eventually released in 1988.

One interesting thing that may or may not have any significance is the lead actor from Biggles: Adventures In Time sitting there supping his beverage, and the presenter from a Wide Awake club interview 2 years before sharing a very similar choice in style…

This interest in the wider arts, and their willingness to take creative risks, has marked the Pet Shop Boys’ career ever since. Occasionally it has resulted in some poor choices and critical barbs, but it is certainly something they should be lauded for, as it has helped them reach the heights they have done along the journey.

As well as this film, 1988 saw the release of Introspective. Another superb collection of extended dance tracks, Tennant has since said he regrets releasing it so soon after ‘Actually’ as it may have put some fans off. It does though contain some of their best work.

At this point, I can imagine some people not being convinced that the Pet Shop Boys were really as innovative as I am suggesting, as many of these tracks and remixes seem pretty straightforward by modern standards. That would make this a suitable time to introduce any Pet Shop Boys beginners to “The Sound Of The Atom Splitting”.

“The Sound Of The Atom Splitting” was created on the spot as a compliment to the a-side of the single “Left To My Own Devices”, specifically the line “Debussy to a disco beat”.

Trevor Horn provided the inspiration for the line, so they took the best part of an hour and used the drum pattern from ‘Left To My Own Devices’ with Neil playing Debussy-esque chords over top of the chaos. The vocals were added later, and were inspired by a line from a film by Derek Jarman called “The Last of England”: “A man says, ‘What’s that sound? It’s the sound of the atom splitting’.

Neil Tennant: “I thought, ‘That’s a good line’. I thought the sound of the atom splitting was the sound of a nuclear explosion; the sound of the end of the world…The lyric is a dialogue between a fascist and a wet liberal. The right wing person is rather amused by the liberal because he’s obviously so feeble he’s never going to do anything.”

The Sound Of The Atom Splitting

Although they had now peaked in terms of commercial success, the Pet Shop Boys carried on making great music. Behaviour is widely held by many to be their best album, and is a fantastic record, if much more downbeat and reflective than previous LPs. Tennant has since said the record was partly inspired by Depeche Mode’s ‘Violater’, which is probably one of the finest albums of modern times. One of the standout tracks, ‘My October Symphony” featured Johnny Marr on guitar, and it was around this time that Tennant collaborated with Marr and Bernard Sumner to write several tracks as Electronic, Marr and Sumner’s new project.

Look out for the monkey on roller skates

Pet Shop Boys – My October Symphony

Electronic – Disappointed 12\” Mix (mix by 808 State)

Of course, this only really brings us up to the very start of the 1990s, but there’s more than enough here to help you get familiar with a great band. I leave you with this curio from Ramsey Street…

Santero

Rockets/Lazydisco

Rockets is one man, Fred Oliveira, from Portugal. His smooth brand of filtered disco house has become a permanent staple in my sets, after I stumbled across him on Myspace about a year ago. Formerly going under the name Discorockets, he has remixed artists such as Meroz, Butterfly Bones and Kool & The Gang, and had releases on Discotexas and Patrick Alavi’s label Roxour.

The kid with the goofy skateboard by rockets

Warmer by rockets

January Dj-Set by rockets

Tracklist:

Par-Tay – Got The Hots For You
Fake Blood – Fix Your Accent
Cassian – Final Round
Junior Jack – Trust It
Rockets – Fancy V-Neck
Hatiras – I Don’t Want It
Xinobi feat. Josh Jakubenko – Best of Me
Rokoursoul – Whenever I Go Out With You
In Flagranti – Brush My Beat
Hatiras – Your Love
Duck Sauce – aNYway
Mylo vs. Miami Sound Machine – Dr Pressure (Clean Club Mix)
Sexy Kool – Les Brigades Du Tigre (Superfunk Remix)
DJ Sneak – You Can’t Hide From Your Bud (Gramophonedzie Old Skool Mix)
Ou Est Le Swimming Pool – Dance The Way I Feel (Armand Van Helden Remix)
Voodoo Chilli – Check Out Our Groove (Herve Remix)

Oliveira’s newly launched side project Lazydisco (which Fred himself describes as “music with sparkles”) sees him exploring slower, more electronic territories. With an original EP and a remix of the new Xinobi tune “Japanese” (both to be released on Discotexas) in the pipeline, things are looking promising.

Lazydisco – More Tigers (192kbps)

Till next month,

AY! x

Krafty King Of The Breaks!

As I am doing a set alongside the legendary Krafty Kuts this saturday night I have decided to share some classic material and a little background info about the man himself! As a young Dj shopping for records my earliest recollection of Krafty Kuts was seeing the Finger Lickin imprint in local record shops although he did not have many releases with the label it was his collaboration with A-Skillz which initially brought my attention to this great producer.

I recall very well playing this record to death back in my hip hop days.

This record led me to discover earlier material from Krafty and to start following his output in the future which to this day is still consistently brilliant. Here is a little ditty from earlier in Krafty’s career released on Southern Fried records “Gimme The Funk” samples Kurtis Blow “The Breaks”

Krafty Kuts went on to release his first full length album “Freak Show” on his own imprint Against the Grain records in 2006 this seen more collaborations from the likes of Scratch Perverts, Dynamite MC, Ashley Slater and the legendary Tim Deluxe who helped to give the album its biggest hit in the form of “Bass Phenomenon”. Being a fan of Krafty Kuts and Tim Deluxe I can remember seeing this before I heard it and was instantly excited. The bassline grinds hard and the percussion will have you bouncing. The synth are very funky yet there is still something very dark yet very uplifting about this record.

Recently Krafty Kuts has been touring the festival circuit and has been preparing a new show with long time pal A-Skillz which will hit the road sometime around September. He has also invented this Krafty little app for iPhone users where you simply plug the phone into your mixer and you can drop added effects into your sets.

Krafty Kuts iPhone App

Apoligies for the shortness of my post this month but I need to go practise my set for tomorrow night can’t have this dude showing me up heres what I have to compete with.

Krafty Kuts Live @Klub K4 31/1/2009

Bobby.

All About Me

This time around, I’m choosing a pretty vague subject to do my posting about – my favourite songs over the years. There’s a simple reason – I’m ludicrously busy with work and then I’m going to New York for a week, and so I haven’t got time to put any real thought into a themed post! So I am just going to post some personal classics that have been in my crate over the years!

Where to start? Well, I guess it would make sense to start with the first 12″ record I ever owned, 808 State’s Extended Pleasures of Dance EP, gifted to me by an older sibling. This included the absolutely massive Cubik and Cobra Bora.

Around the same time I discovered Ice T, and became a huge fan of the Iceberg LP, which in truth hasn’t aged all that well, regardless of brilliant an MC he was.

The one track that leaps out for me as having stood the test of time is You Played Yourself – jocking the James Brown “The Boss” sample, and one of those tracks that I learnt the lyrics to so thoroughly as a kid that I doubt I’ll ever forget them.

Ice T – You Played Yourself

Then followed a period where I was into angsty lyrics and loud distorted guitars, generally referred to as Being A Teenager. My absolute favourite in this time was Hüsker Dü, closely followed by Pixies, who incidentally famously cited Hüsker Dü when originally advertising for band members (“Wanted; musicians into Peter, Paul & Mary & Hüsker Dü”.

Later, when I first bought my 1210’s I took a trip to the sadly defunct Selectadisc records and bought 6 D&B tracks, one of which was Intense – Positive Notions, On LTJ Bukem’s Good Looking Records

It wasn’t long before I was into much heavier D&B, my favourite track in that period was probably this beauty, from Grooverider’s Prototype Records…

Ed Rush – Locust

Around this time I also became fixated on DJ Hype, and inparticular the fact that he was pretty much the only D&B DJ at the time to make a feature in his sets of scratching.

From here I got into buying battle records, and from the beats on these rediscovered my passion for hip hop.

One of the artists that I got most heavily into around this time was Dee-Jay Punk Roc, with his muddle of hip hop, big beat, house, Miami bass and more. These two MP3s are easily the 2 tracks of his that saw the most use, and were conveniently on the same 12″

Dee-Jay Punk Roc – Far Out

Dee-Jay Punk Roc – My Beatbox (Les Rhythmes Digitales Remix)

When I started one of my favourite nights I’ve ever been involved with, Thursdays at The Market Bar, one track stands over all others as a staple of my sets there – DJ Shadow’s Organ Donor.

DJ Shadow – Organ Donor (Extended Overhaul)

Hip hop ruled my DJ life for the following few years, but what this taught me was the links between different genres, and to open my mind musically in a way that I hadn’t been prepared to while into D&B. I realised virtually anything can be good if you take 2 copies and the best 3 seconds and loop it yourself on the decks. But gradually I moved more and more back towards the dance music that I had started my vinyl journey on.

I’m going to leave it here with few of my favourite dance tracks of the last few years, and look forward to seeing you all next month.

Jesse Rose – It\’s So

Chris Korda – Save The Planet, Kill Yourself

Daniele Papini – Church Of Nonsense

Laidback Luke & Lee Mortimer – Blau! (Noob Remix)

James Harcourt – Call/Response

James Flavour – Da Ride (Jimpster Remix)

John Arnold & Ty – Style & Pattern

And finally, a cheeky plug for my forthcoming EP on Sugarbeat

Santero

Dcup

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 6 months, chances are you’ll have heard this man’s name floating around at some point during the summer. Signed to the Sweat It Out! label, Dcup, along with label mates Yolanda Be Cool, is responsible for the massive summer smash “We No Speak Americano”. He’s one of my favourite producers around at the moment, and with the  nu-disco style in full swing right now, I thought it was only right to delve into his back catalogue for this week’s post

Dcup’s first original release, 2009’s “Style” EP, is four tracks of slamming retro funk-pop, bouncing basslines, and just a hint of hip hop styles. That’s pretty much all there is to say about it. Oh yeah, and it’s wicked, mustn’t forget that. I think “Shake Dat” is my favourite from this release. A remix EP was also released.

Dcup – Shake Dat (160 kbps)

After the release of the Style EP, Dcup went on to deliver a handful of storming remixes for several Sweat It Out! artists, as well as a few friends from different labels. Here are a few of my favourites 🙂

Killa Kela – Everyday (Dcup Remix) (160 kbps)

Phonat – Love Hits The Fan (Dcup Remix) (160 kbps)

Yolanda Be Cool – Afro Nuts (Dcup Remix) (160 kbps)

And finally, we come to That Tune That Everyone’s Heard. I won’t bother posting the original since you’ll most likely have heard every DJ and their dog and their dog’s newborn litter playing it this summer. Instead, keeping with the disco theme of this post, I’ll leave you with this amazingly funky bootleg from Britain’s own Go Go Bizkitt!.

Yolanda Be Cool & Dcup – We No Speak Americano (Go Go Bizkitt! Remix) (320 kbps)

See you next month,
AY! x