Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Output quits


Well, I've never been a hardcore fan of Output Recordings' output yet I liked their music policy and the indie attitude, so it's sad that this label is closing down. No matter what style -- its music ranged from electro-disco to indietronics to dance-punk to some obscure stuff -- but in general the releases delivered in these 10 years were interesting and original, and some of them were really significant for me (Mu and Black Strobe come to my mind). Naturally, life goes on, we can just hope that at least the represented artists will continue producing nice music.

Trevor's statement can be read at the Pitchforkmedia, if you haven't done it yet.

He says, by the way, that starting from October there will be some releases on their site given away for free.

Big respect and thanks for the Output!

Mu - Tiger Bastard

Monday, September 25, 2006

sugar & cane


The last Sug[r]cane's performance at the d:qliq was pretty cool. He's getting better and better, and some his tracks were just amazing. His musical performance from another laptop was accompanied by impressive and immersive videos synced to the clicks... Bitter sweet.

For those who don't know him -- Victor aka Sug[r]cane is probably the best electronica producer from Luxembourg. His music is a melodic, dreamy and spacey electronica with a reference to indierock, e.g., shoegazing, as of Ulrich Schnauss, Boards of Canada, Telefon Tel Aviv, Nathan Fake and the likes.


Sug[r]cane - Listen or Take Care Because

http://www.zshare.net/audio/10-sugrcane-listen-or-take-care-because-mp3.html

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

NeOn B. - The Dawn mix

As a good-bye for summer I've made a mix that contains melodic, trancey tunes, which, I imagine, would perfectly fit into summertime open-air rave party shortly before the sun comes out. Most of them are known hits, some older, some newer, but there are some gems that you've likely never heard before, particularly the tracks by M.Gonzales and Sirke -- both they are made by Latvian artists and unreleased yet, in fact, this is the first public disclosure. Of course, your feedback is appreciated.


NeOn B. presents THE DAWN MIX:


1. Metope – Second Skin ([T]ékël remix) [Sender]
2. Kiki – Luv Sikk [Bpitch Control]
3. Gabriel Ananda & Cio D'or – Lauschgoldengel [Treibstoff]
4. On/Off – We Are On [All you can beat]
5. Booka Shade – In White Rooms (Shinedoe reimx) [Get Physical]
6. Larsson – Automat [Bpitch Control]
7. The Knife – Like a Pen [Brille]
8. Trentemøller – Polar Shift [Poker Flat]
9. Nathan Fake – The Sky Was Pink (Martinez remix) [Electro-Choc]
10. Martinez Gonzales – Karlina's Song [Unreleased]
11. Björk – Pagan Poetry (Ripperton's remix) [www.ripperton.com]
12. Dirty Hospital – Space Me [Rottenrow]
13. Sirke – Win A Chance To Win A Chance (Andrew Flanger's remix) [Unreleased]
14. Dextro – Do You Need Help (The MFA remix) [Border Community]

Total: 79 min


Furthermore, you are welcome to check my another mix this Sunday, September 24, at the Signals radioshow on RadioNaba (10 p.m. - 12 p.m. Latvian time, www.radionaba.lv). This mix will be deeper and more minimal, containing tracks from labels like Mobilee, Karat, District of Corruption etc.

Disco in the St.Pauli way

Hello, people! It may sound as a paradox, but I'm busy and lazy at the same time, that's why posting so rarely. (Shall I add that song "This is excuse" herewith? No, not this one again -- I hear people shouting:))

Meanwhile I've been to Hamburg -- it's a great city (and St.Pauli neighbourhood in particular). Like Berlin it has an alternative and punkish vibe, but Hamburg is smaller and more compact (Kompakt, but that's Cologne's thing), hence probably cosier than the capital.

One night I was spinning some rather easy e-disco tunes in a lobby lounge at Haus 73 -- a brand new cultural centre, which is located next to the legendary Flora building, a former squat or smth. like that, -- while there was some local street festival going on outdoors. A flea market, some punk/rock bands performing, drinking and stuff like that, which was fun. So far, so good. But then suddenly the peaceful street event turned into a riot: somebody set on fire something there, then fire-fighters arrived, and soon riot police came in, with water guns and barriers pushing people aside from the street. The cops pushed some poeple inside our bar and blocked the entrance thus no-one could leave the lobby. (It looks like forcing somebody to attend a party against his own will -- funny.)

I had never seen something like that before, except on TV. I guess it was the wierdest event I've been DJing at. Music was rather easy and therefore contrasting to what was happening around. If I knew I'd propably had taken some more riotous tunes with me (N.W.A. - Fuck tha police comes to my mind), but the only kind of fitting song that I had was The Clash - This is radio clash. I dropped it in, when the police actually entered our venue seeking for some "rebels". Later, when I finished DJing, I had to use back-doors to leave the place. Oh, that was a night to remember! (The same thing said Felix Kubin after visiting Riga, and he comes from Hamburg, ha ha.)

Morning hours we spent having a great time at the Golden Pudel Club, near the harbour (check also their compilations). Amazing place! Tiny, trashy, run-down, cheap, packed, empty-bottles-everywhere, but great electronic music. The resident DJ Rüftata110 was behind the decks -- he didn't have the best mixing technique, but his selection was just brilliant. Plus he had a funny slogan on his t-shirt: YOU ARE NOW IN HAMBURG, SO WHO FUCKING CARES ABOUT APHEX TWIN (well, maybe it is not exact, but you've got the idea, don't you?). And, indeed, Hamburg has a lot of cool stuff to offer.

The Clash - This is Radio Clash

p.s. This great song might be regarded as an early example of what is currently known as dance-punk / punk-funk, and, as far I know, it is one of James Murphy's most favourite tunes.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

NB! Chart - August

August have been a busy month (read: holidays) for me, and I haven't followed music news so much. Anyway, here come some remarkable tracks:

> Trentemoller - Take me into your skin

I remember how I bought his Rykketid ep in year 2004 actually not knowing the guy. Since that time his production skills have become even better, catapulting him to a superproducer's status. The track from his upcoming LP does not resemble his typical dancefloor hits, hence a nice surprise. It's a beautiful, mellow and melodic piece, although having that special compressed rhythm. I'm impatient to hear the whole album.

> Djuma Soundsystem - Les Djinns (Trentemoller rmx) [Get Physical]

Trentemoller again! Well, all three remixes are good (also by My My and Heads).

> Mike Monday - I dream of ducks

A track from his upcoming album. Very epic and melodic -- sometimes there is a need for tracks like this. Thanks Ohmygosh (the best techno blog IMO) for sharing this.

> Lindstrom - Contemporary fix (Serious Syntoms Remix) [Feedelity]

A fantastic track by the space disco hottest producer at the moment. Although it's a one-sided 12", certainly it's worth spendind some $ to get a copy.

> Paul Kalkbrenner - Queer Fellow (Ellen Allien & Apparat rmx) [Bpitch Control]

In brief: if you liked the Ellen's and Apparat's Orchestra of Bubbles album, you should appreciate this remix too. Sophisticated electro rhythmic patterns plus trancey melodies.

> Rekorder - Rekorder 6.1 [Rekorder]

Rekorder serie keeps its high standards. Sounds a bit like Ellen Allien or Anja Schneider, but who knows who's done this.

> Gabriel Ananda - Doppelwhipper [Platzhirsch]

This is not that fresh, but I still haven't given due respect to this amazing techno killer track.

> Contemporary Household - She said [Bomzh]

Another funny record from Tok Tok's label.

> Jona - Blizzard [Resopal Schallware]

His recent Tizia EP on Get Physical is OK, but I prefer his deeper and tougher Moontalka/Blizzard ep, which was released on May.

> Fedde Le Grande - Put your hands up for Detroit (Claude Vonstroke rmx) [C2]

A groovy, funky and a bit freaky remix from Vonstroke -- a guy behind the Dirtybird label from San Francisco -- that should work very well on a dancefloor.


Some other highlights: Kompakt Total 7, Holger Zilske Meets Dave DK - Rainshower EP [Playhouse], Heidi vs. Riton - Vejer EP [Get Physical].

The special one: Max Brannslokker - Loadbang EP [Nomor] - Max is a young and talanted producer from Latvia; it's the first release on Toys for Boys sublabel. Nice!


The new Trentemoller track can be found in some other blogs, but if you haven't heard it yet, you can do it here.

And the track by Jona:

Jona - Blizzard


p.s. Also LP's by My My and The Rapture are coming soon.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Sonic Forest


This w-end in Riga there will be the much awaited festival Skaņu Mežs (The Forest of Sounds) which is the best electronic and avant-garde music festival in the Baltics. It happens for the fourth time, I guess, and every year it gets bigger and more diverse. Many Baltic artists of this kind are going to perform as well as prominent international artists (incl. Jamie Lidell, The Liars, Keiji Haino, but see the programe yourself).

For sure, this is unmissable event, but, sadly enough, I cannot attend it due to the fact that I am booked for DJ-ing at Riga nights in Hamburg. Well, Hamburg rocks too, and of course I am glad to go there, just a pitty that the good things always happen on the same time.