January 24, 2012
Mario & Vidis debut album!
Cementing a year that saw a string of sublime stellar releases from Mario & Vidis, the dynamic force give house music a new accessible heartbeat with their album ‘Changed’, set for release next spring. Mario & Vidis title their debut artist album after their Future Classic anthem, ‘Changed’, an apt advocate to the new age slow house sound they have mastered and unmask themselves as purveyors of a hive of activity in their Lithuanian home. Spanning two discs and twenty tracks they cover much musical terrain, striding through epic soundscapes, hypnotic pop melodies, wandering into pure soul and running away with the finesse of raw house music on the second disc. ‘Changed’ opens with the atmosphere heavy ‘Introducing to you’, lightly tickling the senses. Before delving into the vocal delights of Kathy Diamond for ‘In My System’, a collaboration that came about after Vidis brought England’s disco queen to play in Lithuania. The record for which Mario & Vidis made their name, ‘Changed’, was co-written by Ernesto after the duo admired his earlier inspiring releases. Two cuts feature from number one Lithuanian female act, singer- songwriter Jazzu, who creates apparitions within her ethereal and buoyant vocal in ‘I‘ll Be Gone’ and the ensueing, ‘Who’s Shot the Silence?’. Jazzu is Lithuania’s embodiment of Goldfrapp or Roisin Murphy and a true cult figure in the region. Other contributions from Lithuanian homegrown artists Vytautas Sondeckis and Giedre illustrate a diverse spectrum and heavy collection of local talent. Now electronic music dominates Western Europe, its eastern counterpart is flourishing and taking the music in new directions. Disc two treks into their electronic heart, showcasing a collection of deep, dubby dancefloor cuts. The rolling grooves of ‘You Are Here’, and epic synths of ‘Test’ appear amidst reedits of the prior material. The result is an engulfing journey that personifies a broody older sibling from the first disc. Each of their releases is complimented by stunning video spectacles. Their ‘Who’s Shot the Silence?’ video was blogged by Kanye West and ‘I‘ll Be Gone’ came top of the chart on MTV Baltic Top 20 for half a year and is the most blogged Lithuanian music video to date. The unique partnership between Mario (Marijus „Mario“ Adomaitis) & Vidmantas „Vidis“ Cepkauskas formed in 2007 in their Lithuanian base, where they remain. Their first production effort, a remix for Atjazz and Robert Owens was quickly picked up for support by Gilles Peterson and Pete Tong. Since this they have garnered countless fans, among them the likes of Jazzanova, Atjazz, Laurent Garnier, Toby Tobias, Pete Herbert, and many more. Mario & Vidis’ sonic assault has enamoured many top international labels of late, such as Japan’s Endless Flight, Australia’s Future Classic, and Germany’s Best Works.
January 24, 2012
Marco Resmann compiles new watergate compilation!
A mere 9 years old, Watergate has steadfastly become one of the world’s most prominent electronic music institutions. This is due in no small part to its heady combination of picturesque location - its dancefloors face directly out onto the river Spree - a wall-to-wall LED light installation and its impeccable music policy, with the cream of the electronic crop passing through its doors every week. The mix CD series, now in its tenth incarnation, is a further means for the club to stamp its seal onto the scene, with many of the club’s residents and regular talents having been invited to contribute. Previous artists have included the likes of Tiefschwarz, Ellen Allien, Sascha Funke and dOP, amongst others. This time round, longtime resident and Upon.You label boss Marco Resmann takes up the mantle and demonstrates how his unique tastes influence the Watergate sound. Marco Resmann first started out as the third man in Pan-Pot, these days a duo, and also as Anja Schneider’s producer, thus being integral to the early development of the Mobilee sound. Whilst also producing under the pseudonym Phage, he won critical acclaim as half of Luna City Express. Eventually building a network of like-minded collaborators around him to create the label Upon.You in 2007 has made Marco Resmann a very busy man in today’s thriving Berlin music scene. Busy has he may be, he’s still found time to effortlessly demonstrate why he’s been around this long, over 22 tracks of masterfully mixed house burners. Bookending the mix are some small audio snippets devised by him but the meat is supplied by classics like Ricardo Villalobos’ ‘808 The Bass Queen’ and Soulphiction’s ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’, his own exclusive collaborations with Kiki and Mike Shannon plus more by Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts, Anonym and other friends of Marco Resmann and the extended Watergate family.
January 24, 2012
Public Lover's debut album
Public Lover's debut album, A Broken Shape Of You, shows Bruno Pronsato and Ninca Leece doing what they do best: electronic avant-pop with a playful touch of romance. The album comes third in their short catalogue, after last fall's Musique D'Hiver Pour L' Été, released on Pronsato's label, thesongsays, and Naked Figures, a more upbeat but equally elegant effort for Telegraph. Both records revealed Public Lover to be something rather fresh: an electronic duo that has both production savvy and lyrical finesse. With A Broken Shape Of You, this budding dynamic reaches maturity, creating what is surely one of the best albums of the year.
There are two sides to Public Lover––the indie group and the production duo––and the tension between these two gives the album its momentum. At times it's driven by Ninca Leece's singing. The title track sets the scene with a string of potent images: "cold sunshine," "frosted window pane," "shadows of you and I." On "Under Your Tongue," she keeps us guessing with ambiguous metaphors: "It's something, to keep under your tongue, it's something, between your teeth." "I Try," one of the duo's best songs and the only previously released one here, strikes the album's most melancholy note, with those simple two words speaking volumes as they repeat. "Your Eyes Taste Like Mine" follows a similar blueprint: the oblique title phrase becomes more meaningful and more mysterious as the song floats on.
At other times the album's pop element subsides, letting its unique production take the fore. From the first note of the opening song––a distant, quivering minor chord––it's clear the album's aural palette is something truly inspired. Pronsato has always earned accolades for his impeccable sound design, but his key strengths are in texture and rhythm; Ninca Leece, a trained vocalist and indie artist at heart, fills in the gaps with her ear for warmth and melody. Dusty piano keys bounce off polished kick drums, surreal vocal lines float above imperfect hand claps, and room noise and vocal outtakes (two of Pronsato's trademarks) give the mix a sonorous dimension. Delivered in hues of pale winter light, the album has a wispy, almost weightless feel––something thanks in part to Steffen Betke, better known as Pole, the esteemed dub techno artist, who mastered the album.
A Broken Shape of You is something many electronic albums are not: understated, elliptical, and most importantly, personal.
January 24, 2012
Migration on Prins Thomas' Internasjonal
Electronic duo Cage & Aviary are set to release their debut album ‘Migration’ on Prins Thomas’s Internasjonal imprint this coming January.
Part man, part machine, part cockatiel, Cage & Aviary take flights of fancy whenever they can. Jamie Paton is a DJ, a one-finger keyboardist, and a pot-tickler. Nigel of Bermondsey is a musician, South London’s finest oscillator, and a dedicated dabbler. Together they are winners of the cosmic lottery.
Having put out releases to much acclaim on the ltd editions that are Dissident Distribution, Cage & Aviary have since spread their wings with releases on DFA, Tiny Sticks and Astro Lab. Their own label, The Walls Have Ears, is slowly carving out a reputation for quality dubbed-out dance music too - the Cage & Aviary remix series has met with great critical acclaim thus far, with the likes of Andy Blake, Prins Thomas, Horse Meat Disco, Mock N Toof, Bill Brewster, Tim Sweeney, James Murphy, Tiga, Erol Alkan and other such luminaries counted amongst fans of their work.
Now the feathered friends are set to take a new flight of fancy as they unveil their debut album, aptly titled ‘Migration’. From the opening rolling, cinematic sheen of ‘Giorgio Carpenter (Director’s Cut)’ that openly wears its influences on its sleeve to the cosmically spaced out funk of ‘In Todd We Trust’ and slo-mo, disco-not-disco of ‘Good Egg, Bad Apple’ the pair spread their production wings across the dancefloor.
Then we teleport our selves via the Leroy Burgess funk-portal to the disco-boogie rockin’ ‘Infatuation’ whose slick-rick R&B production adds even more sex appeal to the bird-caged discotheque, whilst ‘Dead Dancers’ brings a live, percussive and guitar ‘Liquid Liquid’ vibe and then in contrast we have the shimmering and floating sun-drenched keys and vox that melt into ‘Friday the 14th Part IV’. Finally the duo sign off with the proto-house groove of ‘Lean on Me’ which features guest vocalist Denise Johnson (of Screamadelica and A Certain Ratio fame) and the title track ‘Migration’ which oozes yet more Moroder and Carpenter inspired funk.
With the imminent release of their debut long-player and remixes for the likes of Blancmange, things are really set to take-off. You know, like a bird.
December 13, 2011
Boys Noize - The Remixes 2004-2011
Alex Ridha aka Boys Noize has been a true pioneer and electro stalwart for over a decade. From DJing for the likes of DJ Hell and Felix Da Housecat at the age of 16, his career has seen him move to the top of the game. Constantly releasing forward thinking electro and techno, this skyrocket career culminated in him setting up Boysnoize Records in 2005, giving him complete artistic freedom. His highly regarded albums ‘Oi Oi Oi’ and ‘Power’ showcased his genre-spanning talents and impressed fans and peers alike. Through the course of all this, Boys Noize has racked up an impressive number of remixes and he decided to compile the best of these into a generous 2CD package. ‘Boys Noize - The Remixes 2004-2011′ shows Ridha’s electro stylings applied to the best and brightest in the industry. Spanning over 6 years of work, this album showcases Boys Noize’s ability to rework source material into his own unique and inspiring compositions. From the stunning beauty of his remix of Feist’s ‘My Moon My Man’ to the emotive synth work on Daft Punk’s recent ‘End of Line’, Alex’s touch never fails to impress. When we say ‘the best and the brightest’, we truly mean it; from critically acclaimed legends like David Lynch to the cooler than cool N*E*R*D, this release truly has ‘a lot’ for everyone. Be ‘Happy Up Here” with Röyksopp and curious on the remixes Boys Noize did for Depeche Mode, Snoop Dogg, Marilyn Manson, The Chemical Brothers, Editors, Justice and many more. 24 tracks on 2CDs will ‘remix” your mind ‘cause no one knows better than Boys Noize how to transform hits like ‘Everyday I Love You Less And Less’ (Kaiser Chiefs) into a new style and presenting a massive range on electro styles over the last 8 years. ‘Boys Noize - The Remixes 2004-2011′ …a shredded, delicious, sparkling, cream of the crop remix experience par excellence OUT NOV.28th 2011.
December 13, 2011
Sven Väth In The Mix "The Sound Of The 12th Season"
With the Cocoon Heroes, Sven Väth´s techno tribe entered a new stage in its never ending metamorphosis. Fuelled by the communicative energies of the social networks of the internet the Cocoon is opening up, declaring ravers and performing artists, dancers and helpers part of the Cocoon as well. Within the concept of the Cocoon, this is something entirely new: As the nineties, techno´s groundbreaking decade, came to an end, Sven Väth realized a fundamentally new path had to be persued. Calling longtime fellow travellers and new acquaintances together to form a Cocoon: a remote safety zone and a exciting playing ground, a highly productive agency and a weird tribe of electronic music freaks and party animals. With the Cocoon club, Väth and his companions created a new type of club which fused sound and space into one immersive experience. Having realized that the daily life in the big cities compromises partying without limits, they set up a second home each summer at Club Amesia on the Mediterreanian island of Ibiza. The “Sounds of the Season”-Series is an aural photo album and an a compressed culmination at the same time. The love for electronic music is the driving force of all Cocoon´s endevours. Yet they closely watch what is going on outside their Cocoon. Exited about the chatter about musicans and night life going on services like Facebook or Twitter, the concept of the Cocoon heroes was created. Serving as an arena for gossip and discussion, there is even a Facebook app to create the most unlikely avatars, desolving the border between performer and listener. In the first part of “The sound of the 12th season”, Väth melds the crowd into an orgiastic techno feast. Being bold in its outcome, the beginning is quite subtle. Efdemins and Kozes surprisingly slow grooves lure the dancers into their unique electronic sounds. With their demanding beats and heavy basslines, Dense & Pika set a different, energizing tone. Suprsingly quick Väth reaches a first peak with Boys Noize´s „Adonis“ - an unlikely encounter of a 80s-Chicago-House-bassline and a seductive arabesque melody. But Väth doesn´t give it all away just now. With the elegant techno soul of Justin Vandevolgers he lets the crowd take a deep breath. Then, when you don´t expect it at all, Todd Terjes accoustic space disco sets in. Terjes Tracks is as an unexpected exposition of the hammering bass and nasty acid sounds of Mark E´s “Belvide Beats” as well. Entering with unexpected force, the gates are open now. The contradicting forces of the dancefloor are finally in sync. Only Väth´s longtime favorites Chateau Flight manage to bring this orgiastic mess back on a managable level. With their stripped down funk, they create a perfect stage for the electronic fusion jazz of Aufgang. The final sequence of the first mix is a journey into melodic electronic sounds: Gary Beck takes us into a clowd of allien strings. Benoit Sergio´s processed voice sounds like Indiepop from a parallel world. Acquiesence´s cloudy soundscapes let us dive into an ocean of pure electronic grace. With tracks by Steffi, Gerd and Anthony Collins, the House grooves of the second mix set an entirely different mood. It is a set for those moments when the party goes on for hours or even days, when the dancers are completely lost in the elyptic electronic sounds. Move D puts us into a deep trance driving our ever moving bodies into accoustic territories yet to be discovered. A tiny vocal sample is endlessly repeated until the human voice is stripped bare of all humanity. Osunlades shockingly beautiful voice is enriched by Ame´s multilayered House sound which encounters Alli Borèm rough “Scotch Your Mind”. Borèm funnily mocks senseless afterhour conversations bare of any sense. Maceo Plex sets a driving disco groove which desolves into Roman Flügels subtle, analytical approach to classical Chicago house. With tracks by Philip Bader, Matt John and Re.You the grooves and voices disssolve into those poetic moments when everything but the music is forgotten. The groove, like life, never ends. But this mix has to. And it does, with Mark E.´s longing synth-pop. There are many Cocoon Heroes, but there is only one Sven Väth. With his unique curiosity and courage, he gives us a chance to surrender to the music completely. Finally we realize that the beauty and the beast are two faces of the some creature. It is always the electronic trip that you was hoping for. But it never comes the way you expected it to.
