This has been available now for a whole month. I really should sort my inbox more often. I've over-looked a few things -- and have had the nerve to complain about not enough stuff coming out.
This is a slieu of remixes, all of which are of tracks from a recent Luke's Anger digi EP. Andrez of IF? has naturally spoiled us with tracks out the ying yang courtesy of some names we know around these parts!
You are reading the date correct. I know how long ago that was. I actually recieved this package while Malcolm Strachan was at my place recording bleep Radio 222 with me. Amidst the recording, there was a knock at the door!
Always lights up my face to know the post-man has a special something for me.
I'm a late-to-the-party Boris Divider fan, but I eventually did stumble upon him. Just the kind of stuff I like. Served up on the semi-regular. This is simply another EP of what he's good at. Grab it as your first, or just the latest...
It seems to be an Electro oriented release period. That's cool. Bring it on.
This is a bit of a change in style from what I know of Dibu-Z. Some solid tasting Electro flavours mixed up on this one. In an 80's tribute/Matt Whitehead use of Synth kind of way.
A small amount of technical difficulty with this week's show. My ISP isn't always the most reliable (or loved) and I had some connection issues getting it uploaded yesterday. One day late won't kill us, it's still an hour of broken beats and maniac stabs. Enjoy!
I think now would be a fitting time to upload this set I found earlier. If you want a taste of Queaver to go hand in hand with his latest release, here you go!
The filename indicates this is only Part 1. If anyone sees another hunk of it...let me know.
The first release on this label included a bit of Queaver which were pretty swell acid jams. We\ve got the same thing here. Maybe the future will see a solo EP from the man since his tracks are the ones standing out on these...
I'm not sure who this Gremino fellow is, but he's now the first person responsible for me ordering a Rag & Bone release since #15 which was the last one I liked. It's working!
A little less than a year ago I posted information about the original EP this track was released on. Now for those who dug the sound samples and wanted the title track, you don't have to look any further!
Orlando Voorn AKA The Nighttripper has Machine City coming out with some remixes attached. I don't really enjoy the remixes, but I didn'\t actually expect anyone to be able to improve this one anyway.
OK, here's where I 'fess up to one of my aliases I generally play down or don't mention, since I don't believe it really represents me (now) but reflects the person I was 15 years ago.
Back then, around 1994-95, I was heavily into Tresor and relatively new label Force Inc. Music Works, who were tossing out EPs and compilations by artists like Cem Oral (Jammin' Unit/G 104), Ingmar 'Walker' Koch, Thomas Heckmann (Age/Exit 100), Alec Empire, Wolfgang Voigt (Mike Ink/Love Inc), Jörg Burger, Cristian Vogel, Ian Pooley, Khan Oral (4E/Bizz O.D.), DJ Rush, Gene Farris, and Martin Damm (Biochip C/Subsonic 808).
We actually toured Biochip C to Australia in 1995 through my label IF?
Anyway, a bit over a year ago, somehow hankering for a bit of old school Force Inc. acid techno action and nostalgic as heck (I'm still not quite sure why!), I did a couple of tracks that were a vaguely adequate homage - then asked Biochip C to remix one of them. That mix was released digitally through Elektrax here in April 2009, with another mix by Bitch Shift (Ben Mill).
We even did it under the dodgy name 'Psyborg-9' (a reference to actor Ernest Borgnine).
Then I promptly forgot all about the release.
I still drop Martin's Biochip C mix out and about sometimes - it really is a nice late 2000s reconsideration of that mid '90s Force Inc. sound; the mix also has some screaming peaks and troughs that are just made to get people, well, crazed.
It's not quite what I'd term my 'style' now but it rocks my socks in spite of my better judgment.
Today, it all comes flooding back. I was pottering around on YouTube; I was supposed to be focused on my other writing deadlines - but then I found this little baby. Someone I don't know with the YouTube tag-name obscuretoonzage recently did a videoclip for the Biochip C remix of Psyborg-9.
And it's a mad, mad video I just had to share about a bit. Obscuretoonzage, whoever you are, cheers. You've restored my faith in the marvels and fun-filled mayhem the Internet can still provide!
This week's Bleep has me feeling a little self-conscious about things. It's not a mix for starters, its as close to a radio format as I've ever come.
Malcolm Strachan of Toronto came into Hamilton for a day trip last week and we hung out at my place, listening to records and eating food. We plopped a microphone down on the floor and recorded some brief thoughts about ten of the records that Malcolm picked from my shelves. No planning to speak of. Off the cuff thoughts on 10 older records and 2 newer records.
In hind sight we probably should have closed the two large windows immediately beside us as there is a lot of summer time insect noise going on in the background, but we'll call it experiment #1's learnings.
As uncomfortable as I am with this week's show, I think I would like to try again sometime. If anyone in the area feels they're up for it, then just let me know! With practice I'm sure I can streamline the process and get sharper with the edits.
Luke has a free digital EP for download on his web-site right now. Two artists with no back story. They could be real people or they could be pseudonyms. I certainly don`t know and only time (and someone spoiling it) will tell.
The two tracks on offer aren`t what you may expect although they are in that style. Once you hear them that won`t seem nearly as cryptic as it may now. I like The Sad Confessor`s track the best.
I`ve mentioned in the past --most likely during an acid set write-up-- that one of the mixes off of this record`s original pressing is a favourite track of mine.
When I saw that this rocking record from 23 years ago was being given a repress I was stoked. I can finally get another copy! I no longer have to be super paranoid about damaging my original as I can use this new white! It`ll be popping up much more often now for sure...
Another SFS Podcast from Vadz is now available. I`ve never heard a Vadz set that was a let down, this one holds with expectations!
At the moment I'm doing this completely self-indulgent series of articles for Impact magazine over in the UK - focusing on what I've unoriginally dubbed The Greatest Anime Ever Made. Most of it's selected by me, much of it is obvious (Ghost in the Shell, Akira), and on the feedback front I've conscripted a lot of local Japanese filmmakers, manga artists, anime crew, and - well, since they're cool and I dig their muzak - DJs and producers.
One of these helpful talking heads has been Shinji Tokida, who runs the record labels Fountain Music and Plaza In Crowd, and he cites Akira as the number one anime experience in his lifetime. "I love Akira - I even had the jacket," he recently told me. "I love the drawing touch and the characters' eyes, as well as the universal future concept which struck my mind when I was still in primary school."
Tokida also cited Mamoru Oshii's early opus Patlabor. "Oh, the Patlabor movie - I watched it when I was in elementary school; also I collected the manga and read it on my futon. I was a heavy fan and I remember that I bought the model kit, but I was too young to figure it out and put it together. Still, it was a good memory."
Then he pulled back to the here and now.
"These days I'm only into music, so I don't watch movies or TV and I don't read comics."
When I pitched the idea at Shinji this week that I'd like to extend beyond the anime references and talk to him more about his labels and himself, the man was thrilled. "One of my dreams has been to be interviewed by someone - thank you for fulfilling that!" he enthused.
Without a second to breathe, it seems, Tokida is off - the guy is a joy to quiz.
"I started DJing at 17, scratching records - I'd just changed instruments from the guitar to turntables and got right into hip hop. Then, in my Tokyo years, I came across more valuable music like house, jazz, soul and funk - and at last I arrived at techno. This was my true start to explore the business of music in my life."
Thus there are his record labels.
"The Plaza name was founded in front of my Mac at the funeral of Michael Jackson as he set forth for the heavenly world. It's a is techno label, with the concept being a dream crowd, all the people in the world together in one party. Fountain Music is more beautiful electronic sounds. I started a label more than ten years ago, when I was 19 - at that time I was crazy about the Mo' Wax label, and I read a magazine article that said the label owner James Lavelle started the label at 16 years of age. I just felt that I was so late starting a label after that!"
That early experiment folded later, however. "The label closed and for three years I did nothing - then I saw a beautiful woman at Nagoya Station, and it got me thinking: What is beauty? I thought about that on the train, and I just dreamed that if everyone is beautiful, the world would be a happier place. On the train home I decided to start new label."
Other influences include "Derrick May, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and also Yoko Ono", while he cites fellow labels like M-Nus and Cocoon. "But I have a dream to make my label a major player like Sony or EMI, because I am a music lover."
At the current time Tokida is pursuing more humble ambitions, but he's always looking to expand the horizons and is keen to share these ideas with others.
"We do CD pressing and distribute in Japan and Europe; we also do some digital releases. We're currently working on the new Popnoname CD release Surrounded By Mars - we got the finished product just today," he says. There's a promo video on YouTube here.
"Popnoname is my best friend in Cologne along with his producer Marc Knauer who runs the Italic label."
And then there are all the other artists he's currently working with.
"With DJ Yellow I feel a real sense of destiny, from Dave Angel there's super high energy, Dublee is an intelligent man, Sans Soleil is our first contracted artist, my neighborhood friend Takaaki Tsuchiya, new artist Temma Teje, Thopa, Death on the Balcony, Synethesys, Genevieve, and Astrid Suryanto." He pauses for breath. "These are the older friends we're working with, but we're also connecting with new artists such as Soundsquirt, Ney Faustini from São Paulo, Ron Schubert, Peter Clamat, Peter 'CWB' Mooka and Trancemicsoul. 4/4 Kicks Kiss and Sasaki Hiroaki, Louis Haiman and Masha Era are the latest inclusions."
Then there're the remixers they're calling in: Dubfire, Dave Angel, Mijk van Dijk, K.P.I., James Ruskin, Si Begg, Donk Boys, Dave Tarrida, and more (apparently) to come.
Shinji says he also often works with Hiroshi Watanabe (video here) and Greek artist Echonomist.
"The designers I'm working with on artwork and so on are my very old best friends Quenta and Beople [Yukifumi Uchida], and one of my bigger influences comes from Mars Gallery Tokyo and photographer Rikki Kasso.
Japan has a great history of cool electronic musicians - like YMO, Isao Tomita, Susumu Hirasawa, Ken Ishii, Takkyu Ishino, Fumiya Tanaka, DJ Krush, Satoshi Fumi, Hifana, Merzbow, Captain Funk, DJ Warp, Cut Bit Motorz, Toshiyuki Yasuda and Shin Nishimura.
"Techno's root is also in Japan," declares Shinji. "Technology and industry make people intelligent and active to love."
Any interested parties can check out Tokida's two labels online at Beatport (Plaza In Crowd and Fountain Music), plus they also have a new podcast out mixed by Tokyo-based DJ Temma Teje.
"We have to blast out this solution to all over the world and get in touch to all people who love music!" Tokida enthuses.
The one and only Sheffield Bleep has put together a Simulant tribute. If you like Electro. Actual Electro. Eat your heart out....
Mike Holmes has been a steady contributor to Bleep Radio for a few years now. He's a stand-up fellow who seems to enjoy good music. As I've outright mentioned in the recent past though, he's about to start contributing to the Fun in the Murky half of the operations as well. Not by writing massive interviews like Andrez does, but by releasing some music! Considering the low output of tunes lately (across the board) I'm always stoked with the idea of new stuff coming out. The only problem I can think of is it's digital nature.
As a wee bit o' promo, this mix of his is spotlighting the label his first release will be on. One that has become a sort of home away from home for a few FitM favourites lately...
Check the Dead Agenda tracks in the mix. These plus other mixes will be on the Dead Agenda release at the end of July. An additional Paul Birken mix has been added to the release as well for those that like that sort of thing!
Andrez whirled the following songs together in a dizzy tizzy a few days ago. There are some unreleased sounds in there and some stuff that's already known and dug. I'll let you do the sorting.
I've always been a big fan of the Trax label out of Chicago. Not necessarily the quality of the physical medium itself; since Trax is kinda famous for its lack of virgin vinyl use to say the least. That's why it's always good to see some stuff from Trax pressed by someone else. You know you have a chance to grab something in better quality.
That said you should all check out this series of Trax tracks released by Rush Hour. This is the only one that I wanted/needed/liked, but there are some gems on the other EPs.
This is the first release from a new label which will specialise in strictly limited edition 45rpm singles showcasing the finest in new-old-sounding library funk, Moog disco and vocoder boogie sounds.
BBII are a mysterious all-star session group gathered from the four corners of London to compose and record these funky disco and soundtrack gems.
"Tropical Laser Fantasy" is an uptempo disco stomper in an ORS vein with driving drums, laser zaps, funky Moog, chicken grease guitar... everything you need for an epic storming happy disco session.
"Sagittarius" is a Kano-ish early Italo chugger featuring Moroder/Moog bass and Euro melodies blended with USA-style chord progressions and tasteful rhythm guitar.
Expect further slices of top-drawer funky music from Fresh Up very soon.
As mentioned last week I'm posting up trial runs of various mixes for a Vault Radio show. Something I don't typically do and am very slow at (considering the 1 hour a week I get to play has to be for Bleep...). Because there is some repetition between the shows right now due to some mixes being liked, I think for next week I'll switch over to the bag of old-school breaks and acid for a brief change. That will be fun as well and I'm looking forward to it now, but after that it'll be a 3rd and hopefully final Vault trial run...
Yo Yo Yo! For the first time we got a foreigner, guest DJ in Russian Techno podcast! Stak Etop is from Finland. He's from Tenkale posse and label with excellent taste and big collection of everything experimental and wonky in his box.
All I have to say is that Stak has always delivered and continues to do so!
Oliver (half of Super Magnet) sent me a heads up on this one and it's appreciated. Now if only some of this stuff could get pressed up. There's some gold in there.
It's been ages since i had a mix at home... this might have even been the first this year.. Anyway, This is a mix of some of my favourite acid records.. There's one or two in there with no 303, but the feelings still there (for me anyway)..
Oldskool mashed in with the newskool....
...Enjoy and if you like it please share it around on your facebooks and forums
Mixed on Decks.. No Effects. No computers etc...
I've got nothing to pass on this month. Things are running smoothly. The numbers are a bit lower than usual, but that's obviously because of the reduced posts. Life and lack of music happen from time to time. I'll see you all on the other end of the dry spell.
