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Polls apart

Working on this year's top 100 DJ poll has been more frustrating than ever because it seems that, more than any other year, it is dominated by cheesy trancers. In an effort to make the task more palatable, I've been listening to sets by people who have impeccable taste and who I'd put in the poll if I could. I'm probably coming to the party a bit late, but Steffi's RA mix is superb and highly recommended for those who really like it 'deep'. I'll post more recommended links over the next few weeks...

My Friends Electric

It's been quiet around here for the past few weeks mainly due to work and family reasons, but also because  I've had nothing to say really. Better to avoid posting for the sake of it and instead reflect, plan and take inspiration from others. On the subject of inspiration, one of the very few places for underground electronic music in Dublin played out its swansong last night. After five years of Thursday nights and three venues -  four if you count a very short stint at the now defunct Rogue - the weekly Electric City night closed its doors for the last time. Emotions were running high from the start of the night, especially when Giles (or was it Simon?) played 'Can You Feel It?'. Onur Ozer was unable to make the trip from Berlin and in some ways - and this isn't a swipe at him or his music -  the night had a better flow with just the two founders on the decks and Alexander Robotnick in the prime slot. Italo was the dominant soundtrack last night, with Simon demonstrating why he is one of Dublin's best DJs and even Robotnick, who I feel has been disappointing the last few times I saw him, playing Problemes D'Amours' and Telex's 'Moskow Disko'. Without listing names, there were so many people from our small scene out last night, many of whom I have got to know through the club, some of whom I knew anyway, and the posters of every EC night hanging in the side room was a really nice touch, reminding us all of the local and international names that have played there. I'm not great at farewells, so I left just as Sunil Sharpe was finishing his heartfelt thank-you speech. Maybe I just didn't want to get a lump in my throat thinking of all the great times and memories of my friends Electric...

Mixed up emotions

Hurray, I finally cut the slack and did a mix. Here's the link and see the tracklisting below. As usual, it was done using two Technics decks, a dusty old mixer and vinyl. Enjoy!

Delta Funktionen: Estuary (Ann Aimee)
Patrice Scott: Visions of Mantada (Aesthetic Audio)
XDB: Espac (Sistrum)
Patrice Scott: Azteck (Yore)
Cassy: April (Cassy)
Portable: Release (Portable)
Two Armadillos: Hamlin (Dessous)
Mara Trax: Hohoes (Cylical Tracks)
Mike Huckaby: Fantasy (Synth)
Osborne: Ruling (Spectral)
Perbec featuring Soulman: Come on with me (instrumental) (Ifach)
Seuil: Dance (Minibar)
Melchior Productions: Water Soul (Perlon)
Claro Intelecto: Memento (Modern Love)
Substance & Vainqueur: Libration (Scion Versions)
Peter Van Hoesen: Trusted (Norman Nodge reconstruction) (Time 2 Express)
Redshape: Telefunk (Styrax Leaves)
Andy Stott: Fine Metallic Dollar (Modern Love)
DJ Jus Ed: Teckno Minimal (Underground Quality)
Zsa Zsa La Boum: Something Scary (instrumental) (Kaos)

Scary fun

The combination of owning a credit card, a broadband connection and a desire to track down weird, obscure records is a lethal combination, especially when Phonica Records decides to sell a new run of a load of long-forgotten early acid house records, pressed up to modern details. I picked up a few gems -  which I'll blog about over the coming weeks, in between fighting off the urge to spend more money on records:does anyone else feel this has been a ridiculously good year for singles? - but the one that I was especially glad to acquire was Zsa Zsa La Boum's 'Something Scary'. Released on Belgian label Kaos in 1988 by 'SM' -  that's who the production credits on the repress state recorded it: if anyone knows who actually mad eit I'd be glad to find out -  the first I heard about this record was 2-3 years ago, via Simon Reynolds' Blissblog. As far as I recall, he had done a piece on Belgian New Beat and had very considerately linked to another blog dedicated to the music. There was a cheeky download of the track on that site, whose name escapes me, and the track also appeared on a mix hosted there too. Anyway, I'm happy I finally got the record because it's brilliant. Over a pulsing, predatory bass, a woman explains that "I was in my room and something grabbed me". There are spooky, mock-horror chords, a nod to the jack of Chicago house, acid undercurrents and ebm's sense of foreboding, all set to these heavy, heavy drums. The production is detailed and, despite being a basic enough record, the small details, like the eerie strings and snare rolls, really set it apart. If Phonica still have copies, act fast and snap one up - otherwise I have included the instrumental version on a new mix I've done which I'll upload over the next few days...

Turn the dark off

He probably didn't chose the title himself , but who in their right mind could ever label Dubfire (yes, the guy from US proggers Deep Dish) techno's new 'prince of darkness'? I've had the misfortune to listen to every release on this guy's label since he 'went minimal' and I've never heard a more watered down, badly produced, emasculated load of cobblers in my life. Each release appears to be based on the same hamster's fart beats and ping pong percussion, panned and filtered to create those predictably hollow stadium techno breakdowns and peaks. It's dismal music - although it can't quite reach the dizzyingly awful abuse Dubfire visited on The Cube's 'Spastik': in fact, maybe this did come about as a result of Richie getting ensared in a Faustian pact - but there's nothing dark about it or its author. Some of Marcel Dettmann's music is dark; some of Sandwell District's releases are dark, as is practically everything on Downwards, but Dubfire is not, he's just a watered down opportunist. If he really wants to get really dark he should either go on tour with Metallica, party for a week with Sven (he'd need to pack some adult nappies though), or read a few Dostoyevsky novels and glug a gallon of vodka. Prince of darkness? More like the duke of drivel...

Let's be Frank...

Props to Lee Jones who is about to release his debut album, 'Electronic Frank', on Will Saul's Aus label. Lee has consistently impressed me over the past few years -  and his pre-Berlin Hefner project before that wasn't bad -  either as part of MyMy or on his own. What I like about Jones's productions are the fact that they have a complexity without sounding busy, yet at the same time, only a few key elements do most of the work. Let me explain that more clearly by using an analogy. Jones's music is like a film or a play where there are  three or four main characters, but there are also supporting and cameo roles, and the interplay between these, the nuances and the subtleties that come from these interactions, are what make his music so interesting. 'Frank' is littered with off-beat rhythms, accordion samples, breathy French women being seductive, references to deep house, 80s Goth and 90s Warpy techno. It sounds like Jones picked sounds and samples at random, yet he still makes it sound like only he could have made it. The only criticism I have of 'Frank' is that it contains a few of Lee's singles -  'Kinder Country' and Safari', but not 'There Comes a Time'  - but once you hear the sweeping chords and unashamedly old school 'emotional' vibe of the new single, 'Mdmazing'  -  how self-conscious can you get? -  also on the album, all your gripes will melt away..

Bleep that

At the moment, I'm working on a project that requires me to research electronic music from the early 90s. It's not as interesting as it seems, but it has given me the opportunity to discover a bit more about UK bleep techno. I already knew and loved some of the big tunes - Unique 3's 'The Theme', Forgemasters' 'Track With No Name' and LFO's 'LFO' (Simon Reynolds did an excellent introduction to bleep for Fact a few months back if anyone is interested) -  but my research has allowed me to dig a bit deeper and to discover records like Black Knight's 'Moody Balance'. The work of Ray Gordon, one third of the Forgemasters, its arrival in 1994 is perhaps too late to be considered an essential part of the bleep scene. Indeed, its stripped back arrangements, which make nods to the minimalism emerging from the US, surging, moody sub-bass licks and sense of foreboding sound like a progression from what was a more wide-eyed approach a few years previously. If bleep was the soundtrack to the party, then this record documents the weary, chemically-depleted journey home. The fact that it still has a resonance, 14 years after its release, says a lot about the quality and originality of Gordon's production. It's no wonder that Neil Landstrumm raves about it and has used bleep as the source of inspiration for some of his albums, including 'Restaurant of Assasins' (although that was also shaped by dubstep), and I'm sure that the Black Knight record is probably the tip of the iceberg. So does anyone know of any good places to track down more bleep records - and what do people make of this music?

Things are looking up

The next time that someone says to you that there's no good new music around, just ignore them. I've spent the past few days going through new/upcoming releases and it sounds like we're in for a great autumn (musically speaking: not so sure about the weather). Watch out for Donnacha Costello's new EP on Minimise; Lee Jones's new single and album for Aus; Aroy Dee's 'Summer' single for the always reliable M<O<S; Lory D banging the acid once again (sorry, can't remember which label); Rush Hour coming up with yet another fresh artist -  this time, it's a guy/guys called Syrinx; Daze Maxim turning the minimal/deep house formula on its head for Hello Repeat, as well as fresh Detroit-not-Detroit records from Lee Holman, Paul Mac and Matt Chester. Finally, get your hands on Newworldaquarium's limited one-sided 'Affenwelt' -  copies are still available on Hardwax. Even the beleagured album format has been given a new lease of life thanks to works from Petar Dundov (this year's greatest comeback); Jason Fine (this year's new hope); the mysterious Third Man (this year's biggest surprise); Shed (this year's keeper of the flame) and Corrugated Tunnel (this year's most chilled out house producer). The economy may be going down the toilet, climate change is about to wreak havoc, but the soundtrack is still nothing short of inspirational...

Wighnomying Out

Me on the Wighnomy Brothers over at RA. This one took a while to set up and sort out, for a number of reasons. It's also the first interview I've done in German  - it was easier to do it than in English -  so apologies to Robag if there are some things that got lost in translation.