Archive

Remixes

milktrayWhile DJ Milktray‘s recent All Because The Lady Loves EP (out now on Astral Black) can safely be considered a form of R&G, specifically in the Blackjack vein, the rest of his work has skirted a number of genres and intentions and his latest rework, of Imami’s “Iridescent” is a thrilling leap into skipping garage and kitchen sink half-step grime. The edit will be released as a part of Imami’Contrapposto EP, a thrilling set of bizarre club manipulations set to be released on Tessier Ashpool Recordings, Infinite Machine‘s sister operation, on February 26. Contrapposto is a maximalist effort at heart, full of water drops, metallic sounds and scattered percussion, a sound that wouldn’t be out of place in a Hudson Mohawke set circa 2008. Milktray’s edit does little to quell the madness, instead accentuating the strongest points of “Iridescent”. A queazy rubber, almost voice-like noise that fills the interstices between percussion is especially tantalizing, giving the track an elasticity only the best club music offers. Be sure to grab Imami’s Contrapposto on February 26 and always be on the lookout for new Milktray.

 

sheikFunctioning as the b-side of the white label release for Tony Phorse‘s “Zartan In Reverse”, Sheik‘s “Robo Boogie” edit of Phorse’s “1984” hits on a number of contemporary sonic touchstones, but it’s an old school electro track at its core. The London producer’s rendition seems to fall into an almost half-time drawl at times, but the hi hats don’t stop before long the sharp kicks are punching again. The original “1984” came out on Phorse’s Zartan EP back in May 2014 on London imprint District Sound, a genre-mashing affair that, while a bit unfocused, is a thrilling listen from front to back. Sheik collects “1984”‘s manic energy and re-disperses it across the rigid backbone of sparse electro. The edit is “coming soon on white label.”

taskforce-return-notice-ep

Looking back on the Silverback Recordings catalogue, it’s hard not to see the Belgian imprint as something of a scene-defining force, releasing debut and breakout EPs from the likes of Nguznguzu, Jean Nipon, Grown Folk, Jack Dixon and more as far back as 2010. The fact that the label has been around for over four years makes it a veteran in the club music scene and its piety, as far as release schedule goes, and foresight, the roll call of artists above is as impressive as they come, has allowed the label to skate relatively below the hype circus that has touched many of its contemporaries. The latest Silverback release comes from Chicago-based producer Taskforce (see: Zebra Katz, Le1f), a fitting four track excursion into Kowton-esque analogue techno augmented by remixes from Nguzu and Renaissance Man. Firmly in the tradition of Steve Poindexter and in a similar vein as the Gang Fatale folk across the ocean, Taskforce has turned out an eminently danceable EP in Return Notice and while it might not reinvent the wheel like some past Silverback releases, its function will surely be served. Stream an EP preview below, hit the jump for the Nguzu remix and “CDJ2000”, and buy your own copy of Return Notice here.

Read More

spf666

In recent years, the name of Armand Van Helden has been somewhat sullied as he flies the EDM banner higher and higher, but then again, the Boston-born garage pioneer never cared much for the cerebral side of things. Portland’s Club Chemtrail team, SPF666 and Commune, have the right idea with this remix package though, pointing to two of Van Helden’s seminal 90s hits and wrenching them out of their former glory. In a sense, both of the Portland-based producer’s efforts are reboots of Van Helden’s originals, maintaining most of the original, strutting intent, but filling each respective joint with an influx of attitude, whether it be derived from ballroom, bubbling, or the dembow-meets-techno of SPF666’s Scorpion Cache EP. Portland’s got it going on these days and the Chemtrail buds continue to lead the way.

divoli-svere

There was a time when forums were the key cog of internet discussion, lo-tek hubs where specialists traded acerbic banter on any number of niche topics. These days, that banter has found a new home in social media, Facebook and Twitter eagerly taking on the brunt of the internet’s collective outrage. And while the large majority of outlandish sub-tweets and ill-intentioned facebook comments about ebola are the virtual equivalent of water trash, a good deal of meaningful, moderated discourse does occur in various corners of the social media landscape. Classical Trax is a facebook group for club music obsessives, who, despite (or maybe because) vast geographical distances, come together to share whatever sonic pleasure they see best fits the proverbial club environment. With a few hitches here and there, the group has managed to bring together a number of fans, writers, DJs and producers who would otherwise never share music, or theorize on the past, present and future of the club space.

Recently, the group held an internal contest to remix a set of Divoli S’vere acapellas and the group admin was kind enough to enlist myself as one of the judges. Predictably, the quality gap of the results is vast, but a selection of edits/reworks have managed to mesmerize the “judges”, none more than Ursula‘s “Sabhyata Divoli Like This”, an non-concrete deconstruction of the Qween Beat representative’s recapitulative flow. Ursula latches onto the versatility of Divoli’s verbal alacrity, pairing it with a cornucopia of playful melodic twists, wobbling low end, barbed ballroom crashes and resonant choral vocals.

The result is a disorienting landscape of fable and folly, a roundabout loop through abstracted vogue culture touchstones, grime signifiers, all tied together by a keen sense of spatial awareness rarely found outside of collage experts like E+E, Lotic and Why Be. Ursula’s take is reverent of Divoli’s envy-inducing flow, but falls far from the legion of bland ballroom approximations that appear daily on soundcloud. There were other edits submitted to the CT contest that reworked Divoli in an interesting fashion, but none grappled with the inherent anger, performative culture, or, slim as it may be, hopeful spirit of vogue culture more than Ursula’s take.

celestial-trax Since its inception in August 2013, Druid Cloak‘s Apothecary Compositions imprint has become something a meeting point for artists from across genres, continents and sensibilities. The label has a credence for pushing out a physical product after all, cassette and vinyl mostly, and brings in a number of disparate remixers for virtually every release. The physical element, combined with Druid Cloak’s strong sentiments for jungle’s diffracted contemporary form, has led to the likes of Addison Groove, Om Unit, Visionist, Helix and others taking on remix duty, aiding and abetting relative newcomers like Imami, Galtier and, most recently, Wild Kid. The latter is a new kid on the block residing in New York and plying his trade in milky, Port Arthur-referencing beat work. The New Bethlehem EP is his first on Apothecary Compositions and while the entirety of the tape is easily digestible and a closing Slugabed rework adds some heft to the palate, Celestial Trax’s remix is the crown jewel of the package. A patois vocalist is sent into the mix to match up with Bun B’s invectives and CT flips the lead melody from couch slouching pleasantry to schizogenic, back alley menace. It’s quite a transformation, but considering CT’s recent output (and upcoming track on our own Heterotopia compilation), it comes easy for the New York transplant. Pre-order Wild Kid’s New Bethlehem EP here and peep Apothecary’s web store for a number of limited deals on past physical releases.

jackie-daggerIt’s always a pleasure when stylistically coherent crews from across countries, oceans and language barriers collide. From the arrival of the first Kraftwerk records in Detroit (and vice versa, the first Isley Brothers records in Dusseldorf) to the widespread influence of Jamaican sound system culture in the UK ‘nuum, these clashing moments have become some of the most formative events in dance music history. The meeting of Belgrade’s Mystic Stylez with Los Angeles’ Private Selection might not carry the monumental connotations of the aforementioned gatherings, but it is remarkable for anyone who partakes in the percussive club trax, beat-less grime and analogue dreams the two respective labels/parties/crews peddle. Last October’s Advanced Rhythms Vol. 1, featuring crew leaders Dreams, Arkitect and Aerial as well as Jean Nipon, Vin Sol and other club mavens, is still a must have for any listener/producer/DJ interested in the various mutations of grime/Jersey cub/ballroom/kuduro/etc. Mystic Stylez started out as a humble Belgrade-based blog covering juke/footwork, but under the tutelage of Jackie Dagger and Feloneezy has grown up into the Balkans’ answer to Chicago, London, New York, et al. And now the two meet with expectedly ruthless efficiency with Mystic Stylez’s Dagger taking on RUEGD’s tuff-as-nails “Figy” (off of Advance Rhythms Vol. 1). Dagger’s “Kick Mix” is a simple addendum to RUEGD’s percussion-less original, both refreshing and adding some easily digestible propulsion to one of the most original tracks on the Private Selection compilation.

mila-j

After the official Ty Dolla $ign, Problem & Kirko Bangz remix, and L-Vis 1990’s bifurcated redux, any producer is going to be hard-pressed to innovate on the ground work set by Mila J’s breakout “Smoke Drink Break Up”. Enter Murlo, who, along with Dubbel Dutch, has done more to bring up the collective spirit of the grime/dancehall listening public in recent months. The London producer’s take on “Smoke Drink Breakup” isn’t quite as ebullient as his contributions to the recent Her Records and Madam X comps, but few producers bring the skip and/or bounce inherent in a  Murlo production.

artworks-000088242447-oeqlno-t500x500

After flexing his abundant mic skills on Mumdance‘s “Take Time” earlier this year, Lewisham badman Novelist took to the boards and let loose the all-instrumental Sniper EP on Oil Gang. While not reaching the inventive heights of “Take Time”, Sniper is a meticulously composed effort that represents Nov’s keen understanding of grime’s beginnings; if not some of its more experimental proclivities. As a key member of the Oil Gang-sphere, JT The Goon has been one of the label’s shining stars and his timeless black key productions continue to shine in a rather timeless manner. JT is one of the few producers who can keep the GrimeForum heads at bay while drawing plaudits from the Fact Singles Club. Taking on Sniper‘s title track, JT into a child keyboard melody, sawtooth low end, gun cocks, shots and thrillingly cinematic squarewave twists and turns. At just under three minutes, the remix is something of a flash in the pan, a song that represents the ever-growing temptation of the Boxed crew to make music for someone/anyone that doesn’t regularly play out at Birthdays.

rabit

Houston grime provocateur Rabit has a special way of tearing apart an original and rearranging and reorienting it in his own, oft vicious, more often beatific style. The man has seemingly had his hand in every new mutation that grime has endured in recent months and the latest recipient of the Rabit treatment is Coyote Records representative Chemist. Rabit’s gurning square waves take center stage while uncomfortably harsh snares play the propulsion role and bare 808 blips prove a necessary respite from the blaring sub bass. Grime can often function on a level of extreme poles with oft-sickly sweet melodic content on one end juxtaposed with unremitting inside-the-box masculinity and aggression on the other, but Rabit consistently manages to draw the two apart and smash them back together as one. Chemist’s Defiance EP is out via Coyote in digital form on July 29 and physical August 11.