Beats Like Butterfingers

Remember how last week and the week before I said I'd do better this week and previously last week? Well, maybe next week. But anyway, here's one now...



The search for so-called "minimal" that isn't boring isn't always terribly fruitful, because most minimal is boring. But I have found a label that defies that trend in Germany's Highgrade Records. I've actually found myself quite impressed with their crispity, crunchity Tech House goodness. Here's one from Romanian producer Mihai Popoviciu, the man who's name is fun to say (not to be confused with Max Power, the man who's name you'd love to touch)...

Mihai Popoviciu - Ideas From Nowhere (ysi)

Who knows... maybe I'll even get one in tomorrow...

Blowing You (Away)

I'll see if I can get this one in before these crazy winds blow my narrow ass all the way to Pacoima...



Funk D'Void is a Scottish dude with a Swedish name (Lars Sandberg) who's been making pumpin' Techno jammies for the legendary Soma label for quite some time now. Wait a minute... did I just type the phrase "pumpin' Techno jammies"? I did? Wow. Anyhoo, this jammy isn't really all that pumpin', of course... as I follow my usual practice of telling you one thing then giving you another. I'm a dick like that. This is the last tune on the record... a nice, relaxing coda to all those... sigh... you know...

Funk D'Void - Sueno For Someone (ysi)

And if you don't believe me about that wind, I offer you this scene from my neighborhood this morning...


Sign 1, Nissan 0 F

Damn!

That's Fairly Disturbing!

So yeah, I missed posting for Halloween... I'll make up with it today with some seriously creepy shit...



That cover's a good start, eh? The dude kinda looks like Seal after a few months of heavy meth use. But that's not Manchester producer Andy Stott in the photo... Andy is a pasty white guy, of course. But homeboy has some dark, dark sounding music on this record. It's slow, sludgy techno that kinda sounds like it's been laid out on the street and torn up by one of those things they strip the top layer of asphalt off the road with when they repave it. It's music for a dancefloor that's submerged in a pool of sulphuric acid. It's... well, it's pretty fuckin' dark is what I'm tryin' ta say. Just keep in mind that this one is by far the "happiest"-sounding track on the record...

Andy Stott - Intermittent (ysi)

I think I wanna put this album on in my apartment, on repeat, at ear-splitting volume for three or four days straight and... you know... just see what happens. I let y'all know how that works out...

The Lone Raver

Is it too soon for early '90s Rave nostalgia? Apparently not...



One thing Manchester, UK producer Lone has in commmon with the great wave of Electronic producers that brought Acid House or Rave or whatever the hell you want to call it to prominence 20 or so years ago? He's pasty and British. (You may count that as two things, but it's really just one.) The other thing he has in common with them... the sound. And I'll have you know that I was going to say this sounded like a lost 808 State record from '90 WAY BEFORE I read the Boomkat review that said pretty much the same thing. Totally way before. Get yer glowsticks out...

Lone - Explorers (ysi)

And how exactly is it that R & S Records is cool again after all these years? Many trendier labels have come and gone...

Blog-achella Goes to '11: Choirs & Orchestras & Dubstep? Oh my...

Oh... busy, busy me. But I'm finally back. Saw none other than Ozzy Osbourne in concert Tuesday night. Since me & Ozzy go back, I enjoyed it thoroughly. But I gotta say... the crowd... it was like a trailer park threw up on a biker convention. Damn...

Hey, guess what kind of music 12th Planet makes. If you guessed "Dubstep", you just won a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni, The San Francisco Treat. But it's not great Dubstep, so I'll pass on by. After all, man cannot live on wobble bass alone...

"Gypsy & the Cat are 21-year-olds Xavier Bacash & Lionel Towers who only a year ago began making music in a garage in Melbourne." And now they're playing Coachella. And, suprisingly, they're pretty decent. I hate overachievers... but the band name is awful so NO POST FOR YOU!

Scala & Kolacny Brothers... now here's something different... a Belgian girls choir. I can think of a couple situations in which I could be very nicely entertained by a Belgian girls choir, but Coachella isn't one of them. Nudge nudge wink wink saynomore! Thing is, it's a Belgian girls choir that covers Radiohead and The Knife and ahhhhh, I get it now. Gimmicky... although you could maybe say that about our next featured act... but you'd be wrong...

Brandt Brauer Frick



Who they are: They are not personal injury lawyers or fine watchmakers, despite the name. They are, however, German, and therefore not to be trusted around your schnitzengruben...

What they sound like: Ladies and Gentlemen, Acoustic Techno...

Brandt Brauer Frick - Paparazzi (ysi)

What I think: How about that? I know "Acoustic Techno" sounds gimmicky, but I think you'll agree that is some solid stuff. Some of their tunes have a little bit more electronics, though, so they are not stuck in any stylistic corners and the end result is pretty damn neato. They've been know to play with a small orchestral ensemble, but I imagine for Coachella they'll probably roll with this configuration...



... which is not quite as acoustic, but totally fine by me. Don't think the Ozzy crowd would be too into it, though...

Reinhard is a funny name

I'm going to bet that the last thing my many British readers want to hear right now is some pounding German Techno, but the shuffle cares not for such things as football results...



Without getting into the whole Techno = Minimal = Boring thing again, let's just say that you don't need to listen to a whole lot of Techno that's out there today, because most of it is minimal and boring. Shit. There I go again. I'm like a boring, minimal broken Techno record, ain't I? But really, if you just wanted to keep casually aware of what's going on in the genre without putting any effort into it, you could achieve that pretty easily by just buying Kompakt's annual Total compilation each year. Here's a little ditty from some Bratwurst-eatin' fool named Reinhard Voigt, a lesson in building tension...

Reinhard Voigt - Liebe Deine Musik (ysi)

... without quite ever releasing, but don't worry... I'm going to avoid the obvious metaphor. Anyhoo, once a year these bad boys come out and then they're gone... as you might have guessed when you saw just how much they're asking for it. As always, there are ways around that and I leave you to them...

I am the Ambien Lover Man

House Music Friday is going Dub Techno on you today because Tone wears the big boy pants around here, pardner...



... and because I am feelin' this track today. Reminding me quite a bit of Pole... or perhaps even Akufen on Ambien... is this record by Kiwi dood Son.Sine and yes, that's the only link I can find. Obscure as all get out, this one. But what a groovy, mellow trip. Just put it on and drift for a while... wow, that kinda sounded like I'm the one on Ambien, didn't it?

Son.Sine - Upekah (ysi)

As a matter of fact, this record is so obscure I can't even find anywhere for you to go buy it, the label's out of business and everyone who's ever listened to it may in fact be dead. Okay, so I made that last one up. But the point stands. So enjoy guilt free and have a great weekend, kids...

Chicks dig the low end

Today, one of the most excellently named songs I can think of...



If you believe Interwebs sites such as Bitchfork, the Dub Techno is all the rage these days. And that's all well and good, but I wonder if the kids know about this album here... the one that invented the genre.* Renegade Soundwave weren't even really Techno artists. They were sort of an Industrial/Electronic act somewhere between Meat Beat Manifesto and The Shamen. Except, of course, for this record, in which they invented Dub Techno. So suck on that...

Renegade Soundwave - Women Respond To Bass (ysi)

Here's what they sounded like the rest of the time...



* I have absolutely no information to back up this claim, nor can I be arsed to look for it. But I bet I'm pretty freakin' close to correct. This is from 1990, folks!

Blog-achella 09: Get gooey

We're not exactly starting out strong here, but it is the bottom of the bill, after all...

First we have Genghis Tron who play a lovely genre combination... Heavy Metal meets Trance. No, really. I'd say you should give it a listen, just to hear the suck for yourself and be somehow... i dunno, enriched by the experience... but personally I'd rather stick a pissed-off ferret in my ear...

The Aggrolites are yet another SoCal whiteboy Reggae band. I'm not going to completely hate on it 'cuz you know I like the Reggae, but still... they're more Hennessey's Hermosa Beach than Coachella. Just sayin'...

Then there's Steve Aoki, who can eat a bag of dicks. To me he's a poster child for the currently fuck-awful state of the club scene. When the first song on your Myspace player is a "fidget" House remix of Good Charlotte, you need to go die in a hole. And take Paris Hilton with you...

And that's today's snark. Here's the next one to see...

Gui Boratto



Who he is: A Brazilian producer on Germany's Kompakt label. I really hope his first name is pronounced "Gooey", btw...

What he sounds like: This is Techno, but not quite in the minimal style that can be so boring. If you remember The Field from last year, you're going in the right direction - and add a vocal here and there. Actually the new album has just as many downtempo songs on it as dancefloor tracks... but here's a dancefloor track. I hope I don't get in trouble for posting this... it hasn't exactly been "released" yet... :P

Gui Boratto - No Turning Back (ysi)

What I think: Dude's not reinventing the wheel or anything, but compared to Steve Aoki, he's freaking Mozart... and one of your better Sahara Tent choices for Friday. On to the YouTubes and the excitement of live Techno...



... but then again, what did you expect? Just let the tunes and the pretty lights and your recreational lubricant of choice do the work...

Mnml tchn blg

The shuffle seems to be all into the trendy new genres this week...



... because what's trendier than Minimal Techno these days? Sarah Palin Halloween Costumes? Facebook? Being a Lesbian and dating a DJ? Fucked if I know... I'm not too hip on what the kids are really doing these days. But Minimal Techno, that stuff's everywhere. Is it any good? Well, mostly... no. It's just too, how do you say... minimal. Not a lot goin' on in too many of these songs and I like it when there's stuff goin' on. But like any genre, it has it's moments, and in the world of mnml (they're so clever when they call it that, aren't they?) most of those are provided by one Mr. Ricardo Villalobos. Maybe his music has that extra spice because he's from Chile... and maybe I should be punched in the face for using that pun... there are a lot of maybes in this world, people...

Ricardo Villalobos - Unflug (ysi)

So, that's pretty cool, I guess... I don't know if I could listen to that kind of thing all night long without wanting to put my head in a vise and turning it until my skull exploded, but in limited doses and with the help of weed, definitely worth checking out... how's that for a ringing endorsement?

Time for a special Olympics bonus post!

Considering the fact that I woke up today and flipped on the TV to back-to-back Greco-Roman Wrestling and Women's Ping-Pong (it's not "table tennis", okay... it's fucking Ping-Pong... deal with it), I guess you can tell that I'm a total Olympics junkie. So, for you--

Wait a minute... do you think I should reword the title of this post? Tee-hee.

Anyhoo, yeah, the Special Olympics rule, Michael Phelps is half-man/half-beast (or rather, all-meast) and I might actually enjoy it if the U.S. Basketball team loses again, because Kobe Bryant is a cock. There, I said it. Also, I find it kind of odd and ironic that athletes diving into a pool of water are not allowed to make a splash. That's some kung-fu mindgame shit right there...


"You heard me! No splash! Question me and die!"

I could go on with such comedic musings for days! Be grateful that I won't. On to the musica...



What better way to cash in on Olympics-mania than to put out some product with a vague-to-downright dodgy allusion of a tie-in to the games? That's what the marketing geniuses at Great Stuff Recordings thought, and this is what they came up with. A two disc set of artists from different countries doing songs and then naming them for their countries! You know what that is? Genius! Because suckers like me fall for that kinda shit every time. I love me some high-concept. But is it any good? Well, it's Techno, so the answer is... it's kinda hit and miss, just like Archery. My favorite track is the Spanish production from David Amo and Julio Navas. This one's some serious bass-driven funky Techno biznezz. Max volume required...

David Amo & Julio Navas - Spain (ysi)

If nothing else, that song is certainly a lot more fun than what happened to this guy. Snap! Somebody call Joe Theisman...

Blog-achella 08: Don't be (Booka) shady

Might only get one post in today, but at least it's a good one...

Booka Shade



Who they are: A German duo, co-founders of Get Physical Records, who we've talked about 'round here before.

What they sound like: Another act on the "Is it Techno or is it House?" border, which makes you realize that border is stupid and the only real question is "Is it any good and/or can I shake my stuff to it?"... And the answer for Booka Shade is "yes" and "most of the time", and I say that because the new record is a bit of an introspective affair. But that for me is one of these guys' best qualities... they really nail "atmosphere" in their tracks... whatever the hell that means. But they do. Like, totally...

Booka Shade - Karma Car (ysi)

What I think: One of my favorite newer electronic acts, and moving up the list. They do a pretty cool live thing, too... same kind of setup as Royksopp...



Don't miss this one... unless you suck, then miss away... :P

Blog-achella 08: In which I turn you on to a new blog

From Jamaican Dub to Swedish Techno... one of the reasons Coachella is so cool...

The Field



Who he is: A Swedish dude named Axel Willner, and living proof that not all Swedish people are good-looking. I honestly thought they all were, but now my bubble has burst. Eh, maybe it's just the glasses. Why am I spending so much time pondering some guys looks, anyway? I'm not even a gay...

What he sounds like: It's sorta in between Techno and Trance somewhere, but don't let the 2 "T" words scare you off, it's real good...

The Field - Over The Ice (ysi)

What I think: When I covered him last May I said... wait a minute, I don't have to repeat myself. Just click the damn link and see what I said for yaself...

Also, an amazingly talented friend of mine has produced a video for this song, so why don't you peep that, and also check out his blog. He's just started, but it's going to be a veeeeeerry interesting place (said in that tone of voice that kind of half gets you excited and half creeps you out at the same time)...



Pretty fuckin' cool, eh? Wish I had that kinda game...

Have a great weekend!

Blog-achella 08: Die Mensch-Maschines!

And now to introduce a band that needs no introduction...

Kraftwerk



Who they are: They are the godfathers, the forerunners, the creators... put 'em right up there with James Brown as the two artists who are responsible for all dance music to this day, more or less. They are also robots... and as you can see above, not the most high-tech robots ever. But hey, they were created in the '70s, cut 'em some slack.

What they sound like: Boing peng boom tschak tschak peng, boing peng boom tschak zzzzong, boing peng boom tschak ppppeng, boing peng boom tschak tschak tschak tschak... you get the idea. And here's a treat for ya... their full set from the last time they played the big show (and yeah, I know I posted this before, but c'mon, what better to put up?)...

Kraftwerk - Live @ Coachella 2004

What I think: I saw 'em then and you can bet your sweet ass I'll see 'em now, on the Main Stage, no less! Fuck and yes! Screw your blog-approved flavor of the week and check the real shit, kiddies. You might just learn something...

Blog-achella 08: In which I'm not nearly funny enough

Back to the Sahara Tent, and this guy's not even French! But will it make a difference?

Erol Alkan



Who he is: London DJ of Turkish descent, and the man responsible for the famous Kylie Minogue/New Order mash-up. You know you've done a good mash-up when both of the mashed artists play it live.

What he sounds like: Well, his own productions range from the mash-ups to some darker and weirder tech-house things (check his remix of Klaxons' "Golden Skans") but seemingly he comes to rock it hard live... to wit, here's a full-ish set for ya (it's a BBC Radio 1 rip, deal with it)...

Erol Alkan Live @ Global Gathering '07

What I think: Although he's not really a part of the French House thing, if you listen to that set, you'll see how he might fit in with all those cats... which is maybe even a bit disappointing. I would hope they'd break up the sound a little bit, throw in a little variety, ya know? Guess we'll see...

Blog-achella 08: Have yer way with me

And now, welcome back to Blog-achella, Tonegents' slightly retarded, antisocial roommate with a Pine-Sol huffing problem...

Modeselektor



Who they are: A couple of jolly German fellows.

What they sound like: Kinda hard to pin down, as they don't really sound like anyone else. You could use words like Techno and Electro with a side of Dubstep and a dash of Hip-Hop if you liked... and for those of you crying that Radiohead won't be playing Coachella (and I'm not being snarky, I'm right there with ya), maybe Thom will show up and perform this song with 'em. Let's start a rumor!

Modeselektor - The White Flash (ft. Thom Yorke) (ysi)

What I think: Really lovin' these guys right now, for the exact opposite reason I gave the "meh" to whatstheirbandname yesterday. Originality gets you pretty far with me. Probably even to third base if I've had enough to drink. Hey, don't call me a slut! I'm just easy... there's a difference...

The Man-Machines

Hey folks...

Finally done with the hell job... and I promised something good... now I deliver...

Kraftwerk - Live at Coachella 2004

Amazing show, fantastic sound quality for a bootleg... I was there... they played right after Radiohead... oh fuck yeah!

Enjoy!

The Tonegents World Tour: Germany

I guess I'm sort of surprised that country #3 in Tonegents visitors is so high up the list, but considering the amount of good music that comes out of there, I guess I shouldn't be:


Germany!
So grab yourself a big plate of Schnitzengruben and dig some cool German stuff:

1) The Nurburgring - always my favorite track in Project Gotham racing!
2) Oktoberfest - any holiday solely dedicated to drinking good beer out of 3 gallon containers is a holiday I wanna be a part of.
3) Their love for The Hoff - it knows no bounds! And if they hadn't adopted him so whole-heartedly, think of all the unintentional comedy that would have been lost... thank you, Germany. I thank you and The Hoff thanks you!
4) Run Lola Run - awesome flick.
5) Heidi Klum - very impressive how she remains so hot despite pumping out a kid a year with that Seal dude.

As I said, there is a hell of a lot of great music coming out of ol' Deutscheland, and since we've covered Jazzanova and Compost Records quite thoroughly, eet eez time for zee German Tekno... via electronic music elder statesman, Orb collaborator, and possessor of a very disturbing moustache, Thomas Fehlmann...



... representing the awesome Kompakt label... it's techno, but it's Orb-y, too... betcha didn't see that coming... got a neat change in the beat halfway through... a good trip...

Thomas Fehlmann - Superbock

Auf Wiedersehen!

Post #150 is some special lovin' for ya...

Here's a special treat for ya... with fantastic sound quality for a radio rip... the final live performance of the best electronic act ever, at least in my opinion... which is the only one that counts... :P

Orbital - The Final Performance - Live from Maida Vale on the John Peel Show - 7 July 2004

Enjoy!

Okie dokie, it's my blog on the interwebs

And now for something completely different...



... because goin' from salsa to techno is how I roll, suckaz!!! Ya know, I might get more readers if I just decided with one direction for the ol' blog musically, but screw that... because all kinds of music rule... even country... sometimes... sorta...

... anyhoo, The Orb hold several special places in my memory... from seeing them live at the best electronic show that's ever taken place on American soil (hint: 1996, Snow Valley Ski Resort, an event called Organic... look it up and cry for three days because you weren't there)... to the fact that I got my first date with my awesome girlfriend when I sent her a text from an Orb show at the Disney Concert Hall in L.A. (at like 5 A.M. whilst rolling balls... hey, it worked... who knew?). So yeah, Dr. Alex and his rotating band of cronies are among my all-time favorites. And their most recent record here definitely gets the cliched "return to form" tag. Best thing they've put out in years. Apparently Thomas Fehlmann was able to stop Alex from crawling too far up his own arse and the sounds hark back to the first couple Orb albums when the beats were of the straight-forward, kinda bumpin' variety... you know, the best ones!

The Orb - Ripples

And that is chock full of Orb-y Goodness right there. Groovy...