Inland Knights are just about to release their latest Drop Music compilation, and it is a very enjoyable listen. As the acceptable face of Funky House (they put both the Fun, and the K-Y into Funky), their floor-friendly tunes bounce about with just enough lashings of funk, bluesy chopped up vocals and flair to still sound relevant. This is route one house music that sounds all the better for it. I've been listening to it on repeat and although there is the odd duff track, they all make one want to get up and shake some ass. Particular favourites include Move Over and Kept Secret, both revelling in a Todd Edwards meets MCDE atmosphere.
Christmas pop tunes are something everyone loves to hate but you can't deny the tiny buzz you get when you hear the first one of the year, even if they have got annoying by the day itself. Having loved the XLR8R Professor Smith's Reggae Xmas mix at the end of 2007, I have always thought it odd that the EDM fraternity never released Christmas themed releases. Here, DJ Koze delivers on the fine A & R work of previous Pampa releases to deliver a very Nathan-not-Nathan Fake track that's got a real yuletide feel, a tad cheesy but interesting enough to be worthwhile.
The Koze track is one to be used sparingly, and may even be overplayed so pungent is its effect, and makes this one of the quirkiest releases I have heard in a while.
Quick heads up for a party I'm playing tomorrow evening here in Berlin. It's the Arm&Sexy Xmas bash and they're always fun so do pop along. It kicks off at 11pm, and I'm playing 4am-6am. See you there hopefully.
Ok, so first off, it's been a while. I got back to Berlin on 1 August, and spent the next month donating my savings (read overdraft) to the Bar 25 closing collection fund which was naturally fun, if not a little exhausting. Berlin Mach 2 is a little different to last time. Certain key ingredients have changed, for the better I'm sure, whilst other things have remained reassuringly the same. It's been weird returning from the Tropics to central Europe. My listening habits have changed (matured?) and for large periods of time, I no longer felt the need to write about electronic music. One of the most striking things about Berlin, at least as far as electronic music is concerned, is just how damn clued up the crowds are. It's not rare to go to a party and hear the first 4 bars of a track transitioning from the old one, and to see the crowd explode in (on?) ecstasy. Whilst I'm busy scratching my head, trying to locate the beat, the melody, the chords, whatever, I cannot help but think, "Is there really any need for another music blog out there, when there's so many websites that do it all so much better?", especially when everyone else out here seems to be two verses ahead on the same hymn sheet.
So instead of writing over the past few months (here at least: let me assure you I have been writing more than ever elsewhere), I have begun ploughing a different furrow. I in no way consider myself a DJ and certainly not one of even the most minor distinction, but i have enjoyed over the previous six or so months, finally getting to mix and match the tunes I adore so much. Having also had the opportunity to play them out (under the stars on Caribbean beaches, in sweaty Freidrichshain backrooms, and in fusty Neukolln kneipes), it's also been great to see how those tunes, almost all of them made explicitly for dancing, are received by the punters. In all honesty, it's been a blast. So instead of writing more, I thought I would post a few mixes I have made of late.
The first one I made was just as autumn was drawing in, and I hope, reflects that somewhat.
Absolute Reason - Stereodancer [Weaked] Espenhain (Sgi_s Remix) - Marko Fürstenberg [Baum] Purple Drank - Axel Boman [Pampa] Those Eyes - Ethyl and Flori [Quintessentials] Paper Moon - 51 Days [Touché] Pressure - Zak Khutoretsky aka DVS1 [Transmat] Games Dub - Levon Vincent [Underground Quality] Move To The Beat - Bernard Badie/Sun - Caribou [Mojuba/City Slang] ZX81 (Ramadanman Refix) - dBridge [Fat City] Three Blind Rats - Omar S [FXHE] Things Pass - Basic Soul Unit [Ostgut Ton] Mortal Trance - Boo Williams [Rush Hour] Long Time - Inland Knights [Drop Music] Freek 'N You (MK Dub) - Jodeci [Uptown] Blind (Serge Santiago Chicago Edit) - Hercules and Love Affair [White Label] Windowlicker (Run Jeremy Band Remix) - Aphex Twin [White Label] Sick - Basti Grub & Komaton [Cocoon]
Next up was one I made whilst recovering from the world's most painful ear infection. I couldn't hear so good in my right ear: hopefully that isn't reflected so much in the mix.
Efdemin - There Will Be Singing Dennis Ferrer - Sinfonia Della Notte E Dancer - The Human Bond Lovebirds - The Rat Jus Ed - I'm Coming (Levon Vincent Remix) Sascha Dive - Rd's Movement (Randy Watson Variation #4) Skudge - Melodrama Terre Thaemlitz - Masturjakor - Dub Mix John Dahlback - Wet Summer Alexander Robotnik - Problemes D'Amour (Dub) Alex Smith - Ultra Fine Two
And finally, this third mix represents some of the slower (dare I say it, world music) jams that have been tickling my cochlea of late. This is strictly non-4/4 and a direct result of my attendance at Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt and the Berlin Philarmoinc.
Alberto Iglesias - Me Voy A Morir De Tanto Amor Ahava Raba - Nokh A Glezl Vayn Alomzo "Lonnie" Johnson - Jelly Roll Baker Andres - Hey Time To Go! Banda Los Hijos De La Nina Luz - Dejala Corte Beny More - Encantado De La Vida Jehst - Bluebells Bernard Herrmann / Robert De Niro - Diary Of A Taxi Driver Caetano Veloso - Cucurrucucú Paloma (Live) Shed - The Bot/Vincent Gallo - Yes I'm Lonely Solange Knowles - Stillness Is The Move Kojo Antwi - Proverbs José Larralde - Quimey Neuquen (Chancha Via Circuito Remix) Clouds - Elders Zinja Hlungwani - N'Wagezani My Love Forest Swords - Hjurt Fabrizio De Andre & Pfm - I Dieci Comandamenti Gentle Mystics - Wastebasket Jah Wobble, Holgar Czukay & Jaki Liebezeit - How Much Are They? Los Invasores - El Raton Lil Wayne - Me and My Drank
Aside from this, is anyone starting to notice the creeping influence of French house worming its way back into the hearts and minds of the EDM cognoscenti. Ark, Jef K, Pépé Bradock, Chloe, Nôze, and the rest of the Circus Comapny bandwagon have rolled into town and seem to show no signs of leaving. Coupled with this Gallic invasion, we have to add the trend that abounds at the moment of slowing shit d o w n. Nicolas Jaar, MCDE, and nearly everyone else seems quite content to let shit rumble along at 115-120 bpm for hours at a time. I was relistening to Ricardo's 'Blood on my Hands' remix the other day, undoubtedly one of his tamer works, and that clocks in at a staggering 128, a tempo perhaps more readily associated with gurnered I-Tie wraparound-beshaded tech-house than anything current and "housey".
Following on from my Shakira/vuvuzuela/South Africa World Cup rant, Blackdown weighs in with a far more nuanced survey of the current influences in the UK Bass scene, focusing particularly on the cross-fertilisation between South African riddims and grime, post-garage and funky. I can't honestly claim to be aware of any of the producers he mentions other than Mujava, but it is nonetheless interesting to note the influence of Rinse Breakfast shows on the SA yute. It reminds me of one of my favourite articles in Vice (does anyone read that hipster wankrag anymore), 'MOGADISHU MASSIVE: Grime is No. 1 in Hell'.
The journo, Herp J T Smith (?), found himself in Somalia on a surfing trip, and whilst there, found the local kids bouncing around to Boy in Da Corner. As he investigated further, it turned out that one of his local connects, ""Bari" seemed like he had a sweet hook-up in London. He ran home and brought back a stack of crazy tapes that comprised a huge library of unreleased material from "Disssseee" recording sessions. These were tracks that the biggest Grime aficionado in New York would sweat. Tracks that most likely didn't make it to record because the samples couldn't be cleared. The quality was super bad, but as soon as they cranked it up, the Rol Deep Krew was jumping and dancing like it was being piped down straight from the pearly Bose in the sky. We hung with the Grime kids for a while as they strutted up and down the dirty streets of the worst town in the world, rocking the most progressive and relevant music being made in Western culture today."
Ok, pointless 2006 grime-is-manna-from-heaven-hyperbole aside, it is worth pointing out that this scenic miscegenation, noted by Blackdown, isn't exactly new. These future-tanker-marauding pirates and warlords were fully aware of the big boys in the hip hop world - "Somalis don't like American rap much, either. Some of it they were into, like early NWA and Snoop, but they were most decidedly NOT down with 50 or Puffy. They talked about how the American rappers were "niggers," poor and stupid. "We aren't niggers," they told me, so they didn't want to listen to that shit" - but they shunned it in favour of So Solid or Roll Deep. As such, it doesn't seem that surprising, given the astounding reach of the internet etc etc etc, that these comparative trust fund kids in South Africa would be hip to the latest London hop, when their Somali cousins were five steps ahead, jamming to unreleased tracks that most heads in London could only dream of getting hold of. Suddenly this whole globalisation thing seems a whole lot more benign.
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