Music

Kid Koala ‘2-Bit Blues’ cut to 100 year old animation

Kid Koala‘s new album ’12-Bit Blues’ is due to drop on September 17th and a couple of tracks, ‘2-Bit Blues’ / ‘6-Bit Blues’ (can you see a pattern forming here?) are doing the rounds on promo. I discovered the film, ‘The Cameraman’s Revenge’, a few years back – a story of insect infidelity, animated in Russia a hundred years ago this year! I thought it was the perfect pairing with Koala’s music as he has a, as yet unreleased, project involving an insect band in the works, made entirely from 3D models.

The original film is 11 minutes long so I had to speed it up dramatically to fit it to the music but the original was silent and it invokes those early examples of film where they set the speeds too fast. I must stress, this isn’t the official video or anything, just something I made for my DJ sets. You can pre-order the album here, which comes with a bonus flexi disc and DIY cardboard turntable that will play the disc.

Posted in Film, Music, Ninja Tune. | 3 Comments |

Soundsci – Formula 99 LP out today

The Soundsci LP is finally out today! Ex-Dynamic Syncopation producer Jonny Cuba and current part-Herbaliser DJ Ollie Teeba – alongside ex-Mass Influence MC Audessey, U-George and Oxygen. The deluxe bundle I posted about a few weeks back sold out in a day but the regular vinyl and digital is out now. Here’s a little snippets mix by Ollie Teeba to wet the taste buds…

[youtube width=”640″ height=”479″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKP0rmBUMp8&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

and an even longer version on Soundcloud…

Posted in Design, Music, Records. | 1 Comment |

Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Sex Mix vol.1

Very much looking forward to this, available August 6th from ZTT

CD1: Frankie Goes To Hollywood in The Pleasuredome, a Zang Tuum Tumb singlette in five parts: Happy Hi! (All in the Body), The Soundtrack from Bernard Rose’s Video of the Welcome to the Pleasuredome single, Get It On, Welcome to the Pleasure Dome (How to Remake the World), Happy Hi! (All in the Mind); Relax (International); The Power of Love (I’ll Protect You From The Holocaust) can be read in various ways but, for the sake of CD indexing, has six distinct sections: The Power of Love (extended, singlette – as opposed to 12” – version), The World is My Oyster (Trapped), Holier Than Thou (FGTH’s Christmas message), The World is My Oyster (Scrapped), Holier Than Thou (further festive messaging), The Power of Love (instrumental, singlette version); The World is My Oyster (at its full length); Don’t Lose What’s Left, Rage Hard + ++ *.

CD2: Extracts from Relax, From Soft to Hard, Dry to Moist: Relax (Sex Mix), Later On (from One September Monday), Ferry Cross The Mersey (…and here I’ll stay); Music from and inspired by Two Tribes (Keep The Peace): Two Tribes (singlette extracts), One February Friday (singlette extracts), War (somewhere between Hidden and Hiding); Further elements from The Liverpool Look: Warriors of the Wasteland (Compacted), Do You Think I’m Sexy?, Watching the Wildlife (Voiceless).

Posted in Design, Music. | 8 Comments |

2econd Class Citizen LP ‘The Small Minority’ out today!

It’s fast becoming a vintage year for great album releases and today, another is finally unleashed into the world. I’ve said more than enough about Aaron Thomason over the past years, aside from actually collaborating with him on the multi-track ‘Magpie Music’ on my last album as well as getting him to remix ‘The Illectrik Hoax’, and his second album release lives up to, and expands, on the first. I think I have about three different versions of this record on my hard drive from the last 18 months at least, each one has built upon the preceding version and got better and better. There is no filler on this record and it’s attracting some very favourable reviews, check out the lush gatefold vinyl and CD too!

You can finally buy it today after being on pre-order for a while, particularly from the Equinox online store, but if you order via the HHV.DE site then you have a chance to get a limited edition bundle CD with the album preview mini mix I did alongside vinyl or CD album plus a poster too.

Posted in Music, Records. | 3 Comments |

Pepe Deluxé – Go Supersonic!

Out today, on Catskillz, lots of remixes, the Husky Rescue one actually holds a candle to the original (no mean feat)

Catmerch: http://tinyurl.com/bsj2qxx

iTunes – http://bit.ly/Lthm3I
Amazon – http://amzn.to/Ji3yY8
Play – http://bit.ly/KqUbSZ
Spotify – http://spoti.fi/Krxsnu
7 Digital – http://bit.ly/MzzKr7
HMV – http://bit.ly/Ji9qR7
Nokia – http://bit.ly/KKQ5F0
Deezer – http://bit.ly/MadRvP
Juno – http://bit.ly/LtrWrz
DJ Download – http://bit.ly/JxTeeY

Posted in Music, Records. | No Comments |

DJ Format 10″ release

More gorgeous artwork from Mr Krum for the new DJ Format 10″ single featuring Edan & Mr Lif – available now from Slice of Spice but be quick! Lots of limited versions available, black vinyl, clear with black swirls, a postcard remix of an exclusive remix, test pressing versions of the album ‘Statement of Intent’. These are two of the best Hip Hop cuts I’ve heard in a long time and instrumentals are included too.

Posted in Design, Music, Records. | No Comments |

New DJ Food track and video – ‘Sunspot’

Here’s something I did last month in conjunction with Carling Zest, a new drink being promoted this summer. The idea was to take three producers, myself, DJ Yoda and Jaguar Skills, and give everyone sights and sounds of summer to incorporate into a track that had the feeling of summer to it. I called mine ‘Sunspot’, after one of my favourite Vaughn Bodé strips, and used some of my home made phenakistoscopes as elements for the video in conjunction with the footage Carling supplied.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”375″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_8Nx1TmC1o&feature=relmfu[/youtube]

I was left to my own devices and incorporated a lot of my own melodies into the track, using their bee sounds and lots of percussive elements to form the basic beat of the piece. Making a track that evokes a ‘summer’ feeling is a lot harder than making something dark and moody, especially without stepping into cheesy territory but I’m really pleased with the outcome.

During the process I was filmed going through samples in my studio and generally talking about records I thought bought out the summer feeling in me. This quickly degenerated into what seemed like a massive advert for Boards of Canada‘s back catalogue :) with other shouts to the Orb (Little Fluffy Clouds) and The The (This Is The Day). The film crew, who were great fun to work with, shot for a whole day and then crammed it all into 2 minutes, so, if the editing seems a little fragmented here and there, you’ll know why. Big thank you to Ash for getting the shots and Tom for doing a great job on helping me with the last touches on the video edit.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”375″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQFCJtD7S1w&feature=relmfu[/youtube]

Wish they hadn’t put that ice cream bit in :) Spot the ‘Rave Wars’ 7″s and 3A robots everywhere :) There’ll be an online competition to remix this track and win tickets to the V festival and other goodies coming up on May 23rd so I’ll post about that when it’s online.

Posted in DJ Food, Film, Music. | 3 Comments |

2econd Class Citizen album preview megamix

May I present for your delectation: a personally mixed, sliced and diced preview of 2econd Class Citizen‘s forthcoming album – ‘The Small Minority’.

I’ve been lucky enough to hear it in progress over the last 2 years and it’s changed and developed to a point where it really all holds together as a complete album rather than a collection of separate tracks.

This is definitely up there alongside DJ Format and Pepe Deluxé as one of my albums of 2012 already. It will get compared to DJ Shadow‘s older work but the folk stylings and Aaron’s violin playing set it apart. If you enjoyed 2009’s ‘A World Without’ album – available to listen to in full here – then this is the logical progression.

This mix is available to download from Bandcamp but it’s only streaming via Soundcloud at the moment. It was a real labour of love and I think I managed to get elements from all the tracks in there at some point including a remix of the single ‘Outside Your Doorway’ – see if you can untangle it all when you listen to the LP.

The full album is available on Equinox Records on May 25th, on CD and double vinyl with a gatefold sleeve plus digital download (Juno will have it a week early). The artwork you can see below is by label boss Gunter Stoppel, the man responsible for the overall look of the label as well as the day to day running of it.

 

Posted in DJ Food, Mixes/Solid Steel, Music. | 1 Comment |

Perfecting Sound Forever – Greg Milner

I heartily recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of recording. No, no, don’t all run away, it’s actually very good and I say this as someone who literally falls asleep reading any sort of manual.

Starting with the Big Bang and progressing through Edison’s cylinders and tone tests Greg Milner knows his stuff and the stuff he doesn’t he’s gone out and researched. Histories of the birth of vinyl, cassettes, laser discs, synclaviers and fairlights, the New York radio amplification battles and the loudness wars are all covered.

The uneasy birth of the CD and the industries’ initial refusal to accept the medium features along with a step by step guide to what the air particles where doing when John Bonham hit his drums in a stairwell for ‘The Crunge’.

The analogue vs digital debate is also covered but with an even hand rather than the usual ‘vinyl is warmer’ stance adopted by most.

Posted in Books, Music. | 1 Comment |

Lone ‘Galaxy Garden’ LP trailer

[vimeo width=”640″ height=”370″]http://vimeo.com/38646066[/vimeo]

Lone – Galaxy Garden album on double LP (also includes CD inside) and limited edition art print. The art print is printed full colour on 265gsm pro photo gloss paper, and signed and numbered by Konx-om-Pax.

Out Monday on R&S Records

Posted in Film, Music. | No Comments |

The Electric Images In My Mind #14

When we commissioned The Amorphous Androgynous to remix ‘The Illectrik Hoax’ little did we know what we had let ourselves in for. Not only did they produce a 17 minute, 3 part remix, a 30 minute mix for Solid Steel (airing this Thursday night on Strongroom Alive) and another ‘basement jam’ work in progress mix, but also  – this priceless artifact accompanied the remix when it was delivered.

Several people have been asking about a DJ Food release entitled ‘Post Mash Analysis’, but I’m sorry to say, it’s a reference to this text, which we sent out as part of the press release, and some shops have listed as the title. The remix 12″ and download will be available this coming Saturday, April 21st, as part of Record Store Day, and afterwards via the Ninjashop and FSOLDigital online stores. The release page on the Ninja site is taking a bit longer than expected, partly because the titles are too long for the site to cope with (arf) and we’re still trying to find out the position on posting pre-order info before the actual day with RSD, only 5 days to go now though.

 

Posted in DJ Food, Music, Ninja Tune. | 5 Comments |

DJ Shadow Archival Project: MPC Era ’92-’96

A major new archival release exposing Shadow’s early production on the Akai MPC. Containing entirely unreleased material spanning from 1992 to 1996, the project is entitled, “Total Breakdown: Hidden Transmissions From The MPC Era, 1992-1996”. Included among the highlights are instrumental tracks from an aborted 1994 EP planned with The Gift Of Gab, which includes the original demo of what would eventually become “Six Days.”

The new collection of “MPC Era” tracks follows on from the much-loved “4-Track Era” releases from 2008 and 2009, and establishes a pattern which should be familiar to Shadow fans. “I like to follow up new material (such as the recent ‘The Less You Know, The Better’ LP) with a tastefully-done archival project,” Shadow explains. “As long as the old stuff is given a context and doesn’t overshadow the new, I think it’s a healthy exercise for me, and one that re-calibrates me for whatever new musical path lies ahead. I think it’s important to revisit where you’ve been occasionally so that you can determine where to go.”
“Total Breakdown: Hidden Transmissions From The MPC Era, 1992-1996” will be available on CD, double-vinyl, and download, with exclusive content available at DJShadow.com. This project has been in the works for a LONG TIME, more details about release dates and other specifics forthcoming. In the meantime, enjoy the free track to whet your appetite.

Track List, CD/Vinyl Version:
1. Intropy (Original Version)
2. Vee In Detroit
3. Dreams Of A Piece
4. The Not-So-Quiet Storm
5. Fast Rap Fanfare
6. Intensely Hitting
7. Mystical With Solo
8. Alright
9. Don’t Try It
10. From The Old School
11. Freddi’s Popcorn
12. Quickstep
13. Movin’ On (Gab Demo 1)
14. Falling Up
15. Mellow But Chunky
16. Total Breakdown (Gab Demo 2)
17. Heavy Mood
18. Affectations
19. Perilous Journey (Gab Demo 3)
20. Aye
21. Brittle But Magic
22. Atmospheric Disturbances
23. Swimming Upstream (Gab Demo 4)
24. Up For Grabs (Outro)

DJShadow.com Bonus Tracks:
25. Give Up The Drums
26. Slow Poke
27. Vortex

All tracks are previously unreleased. Other digital release partners and bonus tracks to be announced soon…

Posted in Music. | 1 Comment |