Summer is here...

Well, it's summer, and immediately Ibiza comes to mind. There will be loads and loads of new releases, label compilations, live shows, residencies and everything in the coming months, and so I'll start by reviewing some new releases that you'll be hearing all summer.

Loads to review, so I'll just start of with Mr. Dear (who is featured on, count em, four of the five releases reviewed here).


False
Fed on Youth
Minus 55

The first single from his upcoming album "2007" under his False moniker, Dear returns a week after the release of his monster "Asa Breed" to release a proper False release. Fed on Youth returns to sirens and wails, but this time they are more subdued and much more..foreboding. There's an anxiety to the track that just builds and builds and soon sirens are all around us. Listen to this at three in the morning; it's devestating. Face the Rain again builds loads of tension but is never quite resolved, something Dear loves doing. It's not as rough as Fed on Youth, but just as good. No idea which is the A-side, as both are killers, but considering Fed on Youth is included on the next release I'm reviewing, I'd say it's the A-side. It's good to see Dear return to False, as his releases as Audion over the past couple of years have been predominantly for the dance floor, where this release, while very dancefloor-compatible, is much more of a listen-at-home affair.

Richie Hawtin / Troy Pierce
Nothing Much / Something More
Minus 53

Here's something that I don't see too often: a retrospective best of label compilation. If you've never really heard Richie Hawtin's label, this is essentially the perfect gateway. "Nothing Much" (how humorous) is an unmixed 11 track best of over the past five or so years. It has classic after classic after classic: 'Baby Kate', 'Bay of Figs', 'Seeing Through Shadows'; these are some of the finest minimal techno tracks ever released. The new 'R U OK' by Ambivalent and new False track 'Fed on Youth' as well are destined to be classics, while Hawtin's 11-track mashup 'The Tunnel' on DE9:Transitions and Gaiser's "Egress" are well established top tunes. Label boss Hawtin handpicked these tracks and did a great job representing the label: minimal techno that is aimed directly at the dancefloor. Disc 2 sees Troy Pierce (personally my favorite producer on Minus) in the mix with a 24 track mix chronicling the label. It's a solid mix, and while maybe not as eclectic as a mix ought to be, it serves its purpose: to showcase Minus.

Various
Cocoon Compilation G
COR CD/LP 013

Another summer, another cocoon compilation. Last year's "F" was really great, with killer tracks such as 'Sea of Sand' on there, but 'G' is, in my opinion, much better. We start with My My's 'Fast Freeze', which is a really great track from the boys that brought us the 'Songs for the Gentle' LP last year on Playhouse. Chaim is definately a name to watch, due to the fact that pretty much all of his productions have been stellar, and 'Genesis' is no exception. Stephan Bodzin and Tiefschwarz both give us great tracks, but soon we get to one of my favorites, 'Tämä Tuli Jarvestä' by Aki Latvamäki. His 'It Is Not Now Either' was a high point on Ellen Allien's fabric mix last month and is a staple in my sets as of late, and here he delivers another smasher. The rest of the tracks are great, by big names such as Audion and Jamie Jones, and there is really not a weak track here. The only problem here is that, like every other Cocoon Compilation, I really have no hope of getting it on vinyl (due to the fact that they limit it to 2000 copies). Oh well...

Black Strobe
I'm A Man
Playlouderrecordings 22T

Black Strobe have, well, not benefited at all from the loss of Ivan Smagghe. Monsieur Rebotini seems to have changed one of the premier electro groups into...well, a rock band. I was looking forward to their new album, but now I see why Smagghe left. However, on this single we get one of the best tracks of the year. No, not the original, which is a cover of a Bo Diddly song, but Audion's Donation Remix. Already heralded as remix of the year and song of the summer, Audion has turned the original 3-minute cock-rock into a sprawling 11 minute journey of subdued synths and rather simple kick drums. Dear takes Rebotini's vocal, slathers it with reverb, plays it forwards and backwards, and surrounds it with slowly building stabs and pads. It's interesting to note that the original carried some of the feel of Audion's original tracks; in your face with hi hats, loud kick drums, and synths that could rip you to shreds. This remix shows Dear's recent trend (Fred's Bells, anyone?) of moving his Audion alias toward the more subtle end of the spectrum. Regardless of which Audion you prefer, this remix is a triumph; even better than his remix of Hot Chip's "No Fit State" last year and his best remix yet.

Ricardo Villalobos
Primer Encuentro Latinoamericano de la Soledad
N/A

If this is ever released, it will be huge. Ricardo here takes the good parts of his experimentation as of late and leaves the not so great parts. This sounds like it should be Fizheuer length, but is only (haha) 20 minutes. It's rather simple, but somehow feels much less repetitive than Fizheuer. He uses a vocal sample (where the title comes from) and puts in crowd noises, really adding something special to this song. The rest is standard Villalobos fare, but this gets a massive tip as a possible tune of the summer. Really, you feel as if you're in the middle of DC10 with this one.

(Picture is of Ricardo at DC10, and you can see Richie Hawtin in the background)

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT

Bape just got a lot of props for like the next decade.

Marubeni Infotec

The two coolest things you can do with your computer these days is to make it Steampunk, or to make it wooden. However, while Steampunk mods look awesome and industrial, they don't always really look comfortable to use. I mean, take this mouse for example:



Yeah alright so that looks awesome and I want it badly, but the track wheel can't be fun to use at all.

Wooden stuff, however, doesn't have this problem. It just looks awesome, and fits right too. I mean, just look at this keyboard.



That is much. It's made by some japanese company called Marubeni Infotec, and they've got a bunch of other wooden stuff made as well. You can check it out at gizmodo, where I stole all this stuff from.

M.I.A. - Arular

If you haven't gotten this album yet, DO IT NOW. It's nine bucks plus shipping. That's fucking ridiculous.

Seriously, this is some primogranderolaye grime stuff.

Krudmart

BOOTIE>>Best of Bootie 2006

MASHUPS
take two good songs, put them together and BAM, GOOD MUSIC!
Well, no not exactly. There are tons of terrible mashups out there that are too jumbled and chaotic because people do exactly what I just described.
However there are tons of good ones as well, which are fantastic for party dances and club dances.

Bootie is a big mashup party that's thrown in several cities across America, Paris, and also in Second Life (not so rad). This year (as well as last year) They've released a "Best of" CD for all their favorite mashups they've heard and played this year. I've already gone through the whole thing and it is filled with some major tracks. Of course there are a few that you'll probably want to skip through (like the Beyonce v Dave Matthew's track) but the majority of the CD is filled with quality mashups. The "Oh What a Night" and Jay-Z track has to be one of my favorites from this CD.

But anyway yes. The entire CD is free up on their site, but you gotta sign up for some music site thing in order to download it. I'll post that link, but I'll also update this post again later with a rapidshare link or something so you don't have to go through the trouble of registering. Just don't say I haven't done anything for you.

Bootie

UPDATE:
SendSpace

GAH

I love the French electro scene. A lot of people love the French electro scene. I feel like a dick head when I say "French electro scene", but god dammit, its good. We all know the artists that contribute, and we all have something we like about them. The shitty thing is, when something becomes popular, someone else is going to want in on the action. It was only a matter of time until someone ripped of the electro sound, and it appears to be the very Kanye West who was whining about loosing the MTV Music Video Award to Justice last year. The footage of him performing his new track at the Hiro Ballroom in NYC says it all.



Sampling is cool, and remixing is cool too, but Goldigger was annoying, you are too, Kanye.

Levi's Disco Jeans

Fragment is fucking fantastic. First they come out with the polka-dotted AF1s, and now this; jewel studded Levis.







Yeah sure I guess the jewels wouldn't really appeal to you if you didn't like to feel pretty, but you have to admit that putting them on the zipper is pretty boss. And the lightning pocket detail is great too.

These jeans come in different colors too, but the turquoise is the newest, and I think it beats ruby.

YO, Tracks

Yo, been a while since I posted on here gonna try to get back into it a bit. Recently I've found some good stuff, so here's a couple tracks I thought were real good.

First I found this new track from the upcoming Aesop Rock CD and its phat. The beat is great and his rhyming is consistently good and interesting. The track is called "None Shall Pass" and can be downloaded here.

Next is a new track from Interpol. They're one of my favourite bands and this track does not disappoint, continuing pretty much where their last album, Antics, left off. The song is called "The Heinrich Maneuver" and can be streamed here.

Lastly, Scott Herren (better known as Prefuse 73) is working on a new Savath and Savalas album as well as producing beats for a Japanese MC called Twigy, a track from each of these projects can be found here. Both are cool songs, but each is very different from the other. The Twigy track sounds closer to prefuse stuff while the Savath and Savalas track is a mellow acoustic Spanish song with some added electronics.

Besides these tracks I have been listening to a few very good albums lately that I must recommend. Here they are:

Arctic Monkeys - Favorite Worst Nightmare

A Tribe Called Quest - Peoples Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm.

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Shake The Streets

Out.

Surface 2 Air

Surface 2 Air is a French brand that makes some pretty kickass stuff. They aren't easy to find in 'Murrika but if you've got the inside scoop, you can find em. Also, they're real expensive. I tried on a leather trench coat by them once. It was pretty cool (except these two little rings on the back, that was annoying but I guess I could have dealt with them) but it was $500. BAD

Anyway
They came out with a pair of slip-ons that are way too rude, but also way too pricey.




HOT
SPICY
A HUNDRED AND THIRTY DOLLARS
tooooo muuuuuch for meeeeee

I'll probably end up getting some all white vans and trying this out on my own.