Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Longplay love 23.0

Alias & Tarsier recently teamed up on Anticon. for their new longplayer "Brookland/Oaklyn" which has been released on may 12th. Although the info sheet suggests to file "Brookland / Oaklyn" under the flag of Electronic / Rock / Pop it's necessary to be a bit more precise here. Alias' beats and structures are organic, fuzzy and blurred as ever while Rona "Trasier" Rapadas' - 50% of NYC's Healmonster & Trasier" - voice on top slightly reminds of both Ireland's Sinead O'Connor and Iceland's Björk while carrying a kind of Folk- and PostRock-influenced touch. Not necessarily essential, but if you're a fan of the mentioned artists or Anticon.'s release politics you should check this one out for sure.

F.D. Project's "Mare Tranquillitatis" is cat.no. 018 of Pharmacom Records, a 2CD which leaves me a bit puzzled and insecure as I still don't know what to make of it even after listening to it more than once. Stylewise it's Ambient which big time tributes to the likes of Tangerine Dream or Jean Michel Jarre and this is exactly the point when things start to get tricky as both mentioned artists have released excellent tracks... and loads of kitsch. Frank Dorittke's F.D. Project is stuck in between, too.

Cat.No. 017 of Pharmacom Records is Kondencuotas Pienas' album "Synaesthetic Layers". Dealing kinda oldskool'ish and Jungle-influenced tracks as well as some relaxing Downbeat-tunes, this is not the one for hardcore headz but for those who are just in need of some nice'n'athmospheric broken beats to chill out to.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Longplay love 22.0

It's been more than four years since the last album of David Tibet's project Current 93 has been put out under the name of "Sleep Has His House". A long time if one considers that Current 93 was formed in the early 80s and has got 20+ albums released in this time span. But now waiting is over and "Black Ship Ate The Sky", as the new albums title is, is to be released via Durtro Jnana Records on june 2nd. Alongside musical collaborators Michael Cashmore, Ben Chasney, Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound-fame, John Contreras with William Basinski as well as William Breeze and Amy Philips plus guest-vocalists Marc Almond, Antony, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Shirley Collins, Baby Dee, Pantaleimon, Clodagh Simons and Cosey Fanny Tutti David Tibet delivers a whole lot of 21 ultra-intense songs to be filed under the flag of Avant / Apocalyptic Folk, most of them uneasy, threatening and fueled with despair and desperation although one doesn't get that point at first sight as some songs are packed in a quite friendly musical garment but it's always the lyrics being from easy that are sneaking through the backdoor. One of the best and most fascinating albums I've ever come across and even Current 93-founder David Tibet claims it is "...the closest I have come to picturing what I hope, and feel, and love, and fear". No additions to that.

A collaboration release between the german label Fond Of Life Records and Luxembourg-based imprint Winged Skull Records is the first official album of Communicaution named "This Monkey Is An Artist" which is to be released on june 16th. Communication is the acoustic outlet of Eric Rosenfeld, known as frontman of Skate Punk-band Rise Up, and acoustic means acoustic here. Just a man and his guitar, a voice suffering from not only a few drinks too many, plus a whole of 14 raw'n'uncut songs within approximately 35 minutes of total running time which - due to their old skool way of being played - seem quite innocent, sometimes naive and melancholic but always charming and for sure entertaining.
Do not give this disc to your girlfriend anyway, she might love it, keep it and you gonna have to buy a new copy for yourself.

When music, art and avantgarde are clashing there's always an interesting result to come out and most of the times this result cannot be filed under one specific flag or genre. We had things like this in NYC's NoWave and PostPunk as well as in Berlin's "Ingenious Dilletantes"-movement happening in the late 70's to mid 80's and now we've got The Weegs who are about put their second album out on New York's Hungry Eye Records. Entitled "The Million Sounds Of Black" the whole of 9 tracks on the album are clearly influenced by the above mentioned genres and deliver a feeling of urban angst and decay, grey concrete walls, poisoned rainfall and weathered industrial environment. Maybe a bit of drug an alcohol abuse, too - just to get rid off negative thoughts and feelings, at least for a few hours of intoxicated happiness. If you're a child of former West Berlin grown up in times of US vs. Russia arms race you have no other option than being into The Weegs new album. Release date is june 09th.

Grime r_port vol. 11

MRK 1 a.k.a. Mark One of Virus Syndicate-fame is responsible for cat.no. 006 of the infamous Boka Records which features four of MRK 1-typical stripped-down-to-the-bone Halfstep tempo riddims. Reduced to the max all tunes leave loads of space for dark futuristic athmospheres and threatening basslines that'll be loved by any kind of Dubstep connaisseurs. Btw - one track is named "Tinkerbell"... after Paris Hilton's dog?

To be filed under "essential tune" or "future classics" is the fourth release of Hyperdub Records which is provided by no other than Kode 9. On side A theres "Backward" alongside The Space Ape while "9 Samurai" sees Kode 9 on solo production duties. Both tunes are solubilizating borders between Dubstep and dark experimental Dub structures which once was the trademark sound of the NYC-based WordSound-/Black Hoodz-collective - slow, deep, hypnotic and melancholia-driven.

For the Ritual Grime-/ MythStep-massive there's Shackleton's "Soundboy's Nuts Get Ground Up Proper E.P." out as Skull Disco 003 these days. Although cat.no. 001 & 002 already have been far out musicwise Shackleton goes even farther as his tune "Blood On My Hands" seems to leave all dancefloors behind and explores soundscapes between MythStep and Ambient Dub. The result is a warm, organic soundscape that should go on forever due to its pure musical beauty. Excellent piece! "Naked" and "Hypno Angel" come up with some dreamy accordeon sounds which seem to be Shackleton's trademark or at least favourite instrument on top of more dancefloor-focused MythStep-workouts which are recommended to DJ's that love to play a kind of eclectic selection.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Parts in the post, pt. 35

"Magic Cuts" is the name of the recent Mini-CD release of a guy named Abel Okugawa Wright which I received not via post but instead of that was given to me by Matthew of Ostinato-fame which I met again after two years while they where playing a show at Hamburg's ?!fundbureau on may 8th. Musicwise this 3" disc contains 6 tracks of nice'n'easy organic Ambient / Electronica truely influenced by what was once upon a time known as a genre named TripHop. Floating relaxation guaranteed and due to this a nice piece of musical art.

Straight from the headquarters of Vienna's G Stone Recordings the new 12" of Dorfmeister vs. MDLA flew in a few weeks ago under the name of "Grand Slam" which is a nice one for the funky hours. A-side tune "Boogie No More", based on Perry Kibble & Janice Johnson's classic "Boogie, Oogie, Oogie" is to be filed under Funky and/or Disco House without being that cheesy as most of this genre's tunes are. Although this track might fit well with a more commercial or non-specialists audience it comes up with a stylish attitude riding upon the significant discoid bassline funk over and over again while the vocal hook literally sticks in the consumer's eardrums and does not leave for a while. "Make Dis Real" on the flip as well deals with Electronic Funk matters featuring anthemic male vox on top of NuSkoolBreak'ish beats that slightly remind of what acts like Super Style Deluxe do represent these days which means that this one is to be appreciated not only on strictly Breakbeat-flavored dancefloors. Nice.

Germany's darkest Drum'n'Bass-imprint Intransigent Recordings reveals its seventh release these days and slightly changes styles with this one. Bad Matter's "Blood For Blood" on the A-Side is brutal Hardcore Choppage with a ravey attitude that is literally about to destroy any dancefloor. It's been quite a while since I came across a bassdrum that massive... sounds like Paradox joins forces with any kind of upfront Gabba-/Hardcore-producer or sth. sick like that. On the flip we've got Coresplittaz presenting their "System" which is kind of a straight, but stepping Amen-driven tune featuring some AFX'esque beat destruction effects and hell of evil warped basslines slightly reminding me of what labels like XXX, Biotic or Coup De Main came up with in their early stage of existence located around year 2000 on our time scale - bassline-wise that is. Once again a top notch release on Intransigent Recordings, big up all crew!

Sunday, May 21, 2006

27.05.2006 Rudel Records Showcase zugunsten des FMZ Hamburg @ ?!fundbureau, Hamburg

Mainfloor:

C-Flow (Rudel Records) live
Silvadragonz (Silvamanagement / Cisco) live
baze.djunkiii (Intrauterin Recordings / Rudel Records) Grime/Dubstep- + Drum'n'Bass-DJ-Set
DJ Da Cut (Rudel Records) Drum'n'Bass-DJ-Set

Second Floor:

U-reeka (Afrobeat, NeoSoul, Raw Funk)
Princess B (London - HipHop, Reggae)

Doors open: 22oo
Entry fee: 8 EU

Fundbureau e.V.
Stresemannstr.114
22769 Hamburg


FMZ Info:

das fm:z - Frauenmusikzentrum stellt seit fast 20 Jahren vollausgestattete Proberäume für Mädchen und Frauen bereit, organisiert Konzerte, Festivals, Workshops und Symposien. Mit kontinuierlicher Basisarbeit und unzähligen Grenzüberschreitenden Projekten setzt es Maßstäbe in jedem Diskurs von Gender und Popkultur. Nach der kompletten Streichung der öffentlichen
Fördergelder durch die konservative Regierung finanziert sich das fm:z über Mitgliedsbeiträge, Spenden und - jawoll - Benefizkonzerte.
web: Frauenmusikzentrum

Artist Info::

C-Flow live [Rudel Records]:

Seit mehr als fünf Jahren stehen die vier jetzt 16-18jährigen HipHop-Ladies aus dem Norden von Thüringen schon zusammen auf der Bühne, räumten sowohl beim School Jam als auch beim Sistars**-Bandcoaching die Top-Position ab und verzauberten ihr Publikum sowohl bei Rock Im Park 20004 als auch auf mittlerweile unzähligen Konzerten quer durch die Republik mit ihrer Mischung aus deutschsprachigem HipHop und Pop-Einflüssen.


DJ Da Cut [Rudel Records]:

Seit 1991 unter verschiedenen Künstlernamen aktiv (DJ Da Cut, Donna Maya, Teil der Projekte: patinnen teil II, Cut'n'Lupuz...) wurde Maya Consuelo Sternel Mitte der Neunziger mit Jungle/Drum'n'Bass konfrontiert, bezog diesen Style unmittelbar in ihre DJ-Sets ein und bespielte in den folgenden Jahren unzählige Events, Locations und Venues - unter anderem das Sonar Festival in Barcelona, Pinakothek der Moderne / München, Transmediale / Berlin etc. In 2005 gründete DJ Da Cut zusammen mit baze.djunkiii das Label Rudel Records, das sich sowohl mit HipHop- als auch mit Jungle / Drum'n'Bass-
lastigen Sounds identifiziert und aus dieser Kombination immer wieder Neues schafft.


baze.djunkiii [Intrauterin Recordings / Rudel Records]:

...gehört zweifelsohne zu den Grime-/Dubstep-Pionieren des norddeutschen Raumes, wenn nicht gar des Landes. In seiner - inzwischen eingestellten - Radiosendung "Die Nachtschwestern" auf dem Hamburger Sender FSK gab es schon seit Ende 2003 regelmässig neue Tunes und speziell diesem Genre gewidmete Sendungen, zu einem Zeitpunkt als Namen wie Lady Sovereign, Wiley, Roll Deep oder Ruff Sqwad noch lange nicht zum Allgemeinwissen des gemeinen
Musikliebhabers gehörten. 2004 hielt Grime-/Dubstep mit seinem Set zum ersten Mal auf dem Fusion-Festival Einzug und ist seither nicht mehr aus baze.djunkiii's Plattenkiste wegzudenken, der diesen neuen Sound nicht nur als Rudel Records Tour-DJ repräsentiert, sondern quer durch die Republik in diversen Clubs-/Radiosendungen spielt und darüberhinaus auch in seiner journalistischen Tätigkeit für Magazine wie z.b. die Raveline massiv supportet.

Princess B
...ist seit über 10 Jahren als DJ unterwegs n Europa und den USA und ist in London ausserdem bekannt durch diverse Radioshows. Ihre musikalischen Wurzeln liegen in der kreativen Szene von Londons Ladbroke Grove (Notting Hill), wo jedes Jahr einer der grössten karibischen Karnivals der Welz gefeiert wird. 2001 war sie nominiert für den UK HipHop Award und wurde zur Best Personality DJ gewählt.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Spherical - E.P. [Intrauterin Recordings Digital 002] out now

It was back in 1999, when the debut E.P. of Hamburg-based live TripHop-/Downbeat-band Spherical was released on Intrauterin Recordings as a white label edition of 348 copies worldwide containing the following tracklist.

A1 Spherical - Crush
A2 Spherical - The Half Side
A3 Spherical - Supermart
B1 Spherical - Celestine
B2 Spherical - Dry
B3 Spherical - Inside

Now, seven years after release, these tracks are finally and for the first time available as legal download files for all those who've missed the vinyl edition back then. Download & purchase here

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

26.05.2006 Rudel Records Showcase @ Blechkiste / Hamburg

LineUp:

C-Flow (Rudel Records) live
baze.djunkiii (Intrauterin Recordings / Rudel Records) HipHop-Set +
Grime-Set
DJ Da Cut (Rudel Records) Drum'n'Bass-Set


Timetable

20.00 Uhr baze.djunkiii (DJ Set - HipHop / Grime)
21.00 Uhr C-Flow live (HipHop / R'n'B)
22.30 Uhr baze.djunkiii (DJ Set - Grime)
23.00 Uhr DJ Da Cut (DJ Set - Drum'n'Bass)

Blechkiste
Rönneburgerstrasse 6
21079 Hamburg

Friday, May 12, 2006

Puma Fragrances Podcast Series

News of today have it that Puma Fragrances have recently started a series of free podcasts of which the first one was issued these days. Tracklists looks like they've done proppa work here and put together a nice selection of cool tracks. Check tracklist and their press release below.

Puma Fragrances Podcast Tracklist

Jeff Bennett - I Can See
Phonique feat. Die Elfen - The Red Dress *Tiefschwarz Remix
Unai - I Like Your Style *Martinez Remix
Edvard Koffer - Dirty Bass
Tigerskin - Sams Return
Air Liquide - So Much Love *Radio Edit
Beanfield - Tides *Carl Craig Remix

Use iTunes or download the mp3-file directly



Podcast Nummer 1 Presstext

The first selection of the Puma Fragrances Podcast includes tracks representing contemporary and urban clubmusic with a soulful attitude, like for example Jeff Bennett from Seweden with his deep & dubby “I Can See”. Jeff currently signed to Plastic City, one of the most respected Techhouse Labels worldwide and with an artist roster ranging from Terry Lee Brown Junior till The Timewriter.

Jeff Bennett is typical scandinavian Dj & producer, arranging deep tracks for the home entertainment but also performing driving and acid´ish Techhouse Dj-Sets in clubs like the Amsterdam Suppeclub or Zürich´s Roshtofflager.

The Labels Morris Audio from Switzerland is the home of Berlin producer Tigerskin and his “Sam´s Return” track- Tigerskin recently has been chosen to produce music for the CSI.NY series – america is watching the european electronic scene or better after many years of development, the new producer generation is having a certain influence on an old fashioned us rock-market….especially in Eastern Europe new talets turn on the lights. One of the new stars is Edvard Kofner from Zagreb, the offshoot from Munich based Exun Records Boss DJ Linus.

Btw, Bavaria seems to be a good place for electronic music opinion leaders: The famous Compost Records- ambassador for a new definition of high class jazz - is the home of the producer couple Beanfield and their title “Tides”, which has been remixed by the likes of Mr. Detroit Techno Carl Craig.

Coming back to sweden, we have beside John & Jesper Dahlbäck and new and uprising talent called Unai, who found his new home at Force Inc. successor Disco Inc. Unai currently has been invited by Abbas Björn Ulvaeus to show him how to produce functional and urban clubmusic – any further questions ?

Phonique from Steve Bugs Dessous Label delivers us with “The Red Dress” one of the clubhits from 2005 – remixed by Tiefschwarz and played by Djs like Luciano or Ricardo Villalobos. Not only Phonique is working and living in Berlin – the legendary Cem Oral from Air Liquide is producing his tracks together with Dr.Walker from cologne in their studio, located at The Hackischen Höfe in Berlin Mitte. Altough the “So much love to give” sounds mire like Disco and Italohouse from the Eighties, it´s more up to date than ever, cause we expect this music style to come soon…more about these urban disco rumours inside the next Puma Fragrances Podcast…

Parts in the post, pt. 34

Quite a surprise is Nelly Furtado's new 12" named "Maneater" taken off her forthcoming album "Loose". Covering the well-known Disco classic of the same title on top of dirty,ruff and slightly stomping beats delivering a Disco vs. DFA'ish attitude this will be played out in underground clubs as well as in a mainstream context. Watch out for the onesided promo edition made of excellent blue vinyl.

Groove Coverage are putting out their next single named "21st Century Digital Girl" via Zeitgeist / Universal these days. Forget the so-called Club Mix featured on the A-side as it is ultra-cheesy commercial HardDance bullshit which I only love for its fun factor 'coze the vocals are that kind of naive, uplifting bullshit that puts a fucking big grin on your face and makes you feel like a child put in front of a massive amount of sweets, bubblegum and lemonade. Welcome to la-la-land! Surprisingly the flip does better and mixes up ElectroBreaks/ NuSkoolBreaks presenting a rock'ish attitude - remember DJ Tocadisco's "Nobody likes..." or recent Azzido Da Bass-releases - with a kind of Pink'esque PowerPop-flavor. Add a bit of sing-a-long-factor and there it is - a perfect RadioPop-anthem which might as well be played throughout ElectroClash- or other more Freestyle-flavored nights.

Sascha Müller's new release "Das Maß von Minimal" is cat.no. 009 on his very own imprint Super Six Goodies. Once again this Uelsen-based artist serves three tracks of excellent work which might not be named "minimal" in the sense of now but is a stripped down to the bone fusion of slightly Acid-flavored Techno of the old skool and intelligent HypnoTrance featuring neverending loops and all that stuff we loved back in the days. Superb!

Straight from the Ghetto - News on HipHop, pt. 12

Massari's new 12" to be released on Capital Prophet Records is on promo circuit now. As the name "Real Love" suggests Massari is on a DigiSoul vs. Pop-tip here which is made for mainstream success. The Radio Edit is quite soft and light, but the Club Remix delivers some heavy beats to bounce to while the so-called OGB & Toni Works Remix comes up with a lighter vibe and an anthemic bleepy hookline which fits fine into a more Crunk-flavored set.

DigiSoul nubreed Black Buddafly do release their upcoming single "Bad Girl" featuring Fabolous via DefJam these days. Watch put for massive beats, primetime flava and serious drama business. Nice one!

The remixes of India.Arie's tune "I Am Not My Hair" are out on the infamous Motown Records-imprint now, bringing up the beauty in contemporary DigiSoul vocally as India.Arie has got a quite impressive voice but also in beats, which are taken care of by remixers like Konvict, Swizz Beats and Jazze Pha. Lyricwise the never-ending story and/or connection of a woman and her hair is dealt with and there is thruth in the word that, if a woman/girl as about to change something important in her life, she also changes - sometimes in radical way - her hairstyle.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Longplay love 21.0

Berlin-based Poker Flat Recordings-artist Guido Schneider comes up with a new concept for his forthcoming CD "Focus On: Guido Schneider" scheduled for may 26th, which is to be regarded one of the most interesting and thrilling in-one-go-album on the circuit these days. So what is it all about? Thirteen tracks and/or remixes featured on this disc taken from Guido Schneider's recent back catalogue or produced exclusively for this album (those are about to appear on a seperate 2x12" issue), re-edited and put into pieces by the artist himself and finally re-arranged into a hypnotic mix of approximately 67 minutes length which does not present Mr. Schneider's vision of minimalism but perfectly defines what the genre is - or at least should be - all about: stripped down to the bone grooves of excellent quality and higher intelligence. Due to this "Focus On: Guido Schneider" is most likely to be filed under "Future Classics" or "Essential Album" soon. Watch out and buy blind folded.

Aosuke's new album "Monotone Spirits", which has been released as collaborative work of the labels Audiolith and Meudiamorte, is highly recommended to all lovers of classic Ambient sounds as all four tracks which are paving their way through a total running time of about 36 minutes feature floating, totally beat-less structures of organic ambience influenced of what my be called a slightly Post-PostRock'ish attitude if the simple use of processed guitar sounds can be regarded as Rock-reference. If not, it's just Ambient at its best.

Another high quality release is to come on Steve Bug's Dessous Recordings-imprint in collaboration with photographer Sacha Dean Biyan who worked for magazines like GQ, Vogue and others and apart from this is responsible for the website eccentris.com. While Biyan, which is named to be one of the best fashion photographers around, is responsible for visual content in form of an excellent booklet delivering high quality photographs - some of them do remind of aesthetics served in long gone Calvin Klein adds - plus additional photo and interactive data contained on the first disc, the Dessous Recordings-camp stands in for the music. Mastermind Steve Bug is responsible for CD1 of this pair named "Eccentris: Skin Is In", compiling a whole bunch of ten unmixed (sic!) tracks defining his view upon deep and sexy grooves which are not necessarily made for dancefloors. Namedropping anyone? Tosca, Chateau Flight, I:Cube, Frivolous and others are featured here. Disc 2 of this set has new born star Ame of Sonar Kollektiv-fame at the controls, recognized by many for his recent uber-hit "Rej", which put together a nice and deep but still dancefloor focused DJ-mix of nearby 76 minutes length which easily can be imagined to be played out live n a tiny red-walled underground club somewhere in the middle of any redlight district in the world as all tracks included from the likes of Tokyo Black Star, Laid, Marcus Worgull, DJ Yoav B., Ame himself and others are fired up to the max with sweat, sex and steamy attitude - the same old game Housemusic has been about ever since. Pumping basslines galore!

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Deepest Shades Of House Vol. 1 - compiled by baze.djunkiii [Laka-Tosh-Music] out now

As some of you might already know I've started to work as chief compiler for the mp3-based imprint Laka-Tosh-Music which is about to release a bunch of compilation bundles of excellent and selected music in the future via iTunes and other established download platforms worldwide.
The first compilation has been released these days under the name of

Deepest Shades Of House Vol. 1 - compiled by baze.djunkiii

Tracklist:

1 JussiPekka - Overnight
2 Melina - Too Many People
3 David Panda & Cecilia Stalin - Sister Supreme
4 Guria Revision - Summertime Revision
5 Dub Taylor - Admire The Moon
6 Trüby Trio & Marcus Begg - Universal Love (Ame Rootdown Round Midnite Mix)
7 Dash Dude - Apply To People
8 Kalle M - Sapling
9 DJ Shuffle - Artist
10 Marko Laine - Time To Say Goodbye
11 Worldless People - 2 Eyes
12 Luxury Man - Urban (Sensual Mix)
13 Slope - Nippon House

Download here.

Check this place regularly for further updates on recent Laka-Tosh-Music releases...

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

13.05.2006 baze.djunkiii @ Floral Liberal / Athens, Greece

For the third time within four months I'm gonna be off to Greece on may 13th, this time mashing up a venue named Floral Liberal with a mixture of ElectroClash/ElectroHouse, Bootlegs and other fun stuff.



Press release:

Baze.djunkiii - head of Hamburg-based label Intrauterin Recordings, co-owner of the fresh established Rudel Records, Imp-Artists flagship DJ.
A music devotee and creative wizard on the decks. His sets easily take you on a journey through two decades of club music, mashing up hard to find classics with contemporary sounds: ElectroClash vs. Bootlegs vs. TechHouse vs. Minimalism vs. Breaks vs. Electro vs.You Name It, (he has it) - as long as it's rocking dancefloors it'll be played out and it'll be played out right.
Wherever Baze.djunkiii is on sound control not only DJs wonder how he is able to cover such a wide range of styles from only one case of records, but also where he gets them all from. His back stock of 5000+ discs holds more rarities and incomprehensible versions than an average record store does and his all-embracing knowledge of sounds allows him to Mix n' Blend through a selection of brilliant crowd tested and Dancefloor proved tunes, which by the way are granted to make party people dance their ass off.
So what to expect tonight?
The essence of cool ElectroClash & ElectroHouse plus Baze.djunkiii's very own definition of what he calls "Dancefloor Bashing". Pogo dancing anyone?

Floral Liberal
Themistokleous 80, Exarheia Sq.
10681 Athens
Greece