Will.I.Am.Converted

Posted on January 5, 2012 by

So, here’s the thing. I’ve followed a few pop blogs in 2011 in the vain hope that something worth listening to would surface. And sadly, very little grabbed my attention in any way. The domination of Gaga, Britney, Perry drove me to distraction but I was determined not to cast hate on music I didn’t like as millions seemed to love 2011 pop. But thankfully, a few friends, XOLondon and some uber-informed bloggers turned me onto Will Young late in the piece. I got the album for a Eurostar trip and settled into my comfy seat to listen. What a delight – no trance, no cheese, just warm, sophisticated pop music produced by the wonderful Richard X. I slept on his album Echoes for a while but glad I’ve found it. Plus, he was quite good in the TV series Bedlam. Here’s my favourite song from the album “I Just Want A Lover”.

Will Young “I Just Want A Lover”

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Podcasts

Posted on October 14, 2011 by

Here’s a link to my podcasts. This mix is called Back to House – as I left disco behind the door for a while.

Back To House Mix

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Back in the avenue

Posted on October 14, 2011 by

It’s been a while since I was around these parts and I have Rotciv to thank for prompting me back into action. Thanks.  It’s not as if there is no decent music to write about, far from it. Just been lazy. Anyhoo, on with the post.

Following the last post about producers I’m following, 2011 is turning into a bumper year for fresh sounds from all over the world. So I thought I’d profile some more producers who’ve got my attention. Lets start with…

Maceo Plex  Recent track Falling is the one that got my attention. Having relaunched himself with a new name and more groove-based house sound – he’s turning out some great tunes.    Buy

Check out his remix for Azari & III of their new single Manic. One to watch I think.     

Francis Inferno Orchestra Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Griffin James is amongst a crop of producers from Oz who are, in my opinion, leading the charge for house right now. Further deepening the disco-sampling, slo-mo, 90s house revolution he blends it all up into a new kinda deep house.    Buy

Tornado Wallace  Another Aussie from Melbourne, he’s been dropping some great deep house sounds for a while now on the Instruments of Rapture and Delusions of Grandeur labels. The track that has totally sold me is Rainbow Road. All squidgy synth bass and strings. Luvvly. Oh, and a Revenge remix. Nuff said. Counting the days til the digi release on 17 Oct.   Buy

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House producers I’m watching this year

Posted on March 31, 2011 by

I’m constantly surprised by the creativity of new music artists, always finding new sounds or incorporating old sounds into new ways that surprise me and get my attention. Being out of work at the mo, I’ve had plenty of time to listen to (and buy) lots of new music online – so here’s some I like.

Linkwood. Back in September 2009 Linkwood delivered their album System with a couple of my favourite tracks of that year; Falling (beautifully referencing 80s band Total Contrast’s synth bass) Fudge Boogie and the Roy Ayers sampling slow-burner Tears. Buy the album, it’s superb.  They return in May 2011 with a three track EP From the Vaults Part 1. You can check out clips Soundcloud. I’m most excited about Dirty Love though.

Nicholas. Having known a couple of Nicholas remixes particularly his mix of Mario Basanov’s “Up” in a Defmix style – I noticed his new album on a visit to Phonica Records. From Perugia, Italy, he has expertly crafted some sampled house and soul vocals into wikkid slo-house grooves.  Check out D-Vote deftly dropping in Ten City and deep old school house bassline – and my current obsession Feels Like – who knew Sade could sound even more delicious?  He’s got a new EP Bring Back due out soon…I. Must. Have.

Rotciv. I’ve been following Rotciv for quite a while now, after discovering some of his edits. He’s from Brazil and manages Mister Mistery records, a label focused on disco and house music and its substyles, particularlly regarding old and classic influencies from 70s to 00s.  It might have been Sending All my Flight that first caught my ear – he’s gone on to deliver some very smooth edits and original tracks. High on my acquire list is the new EP Classic Age.

Toomy Disco. Toomy Disco, aka Marin Iliuta, is a producer from Argentina. His debut album “Bedroom Tricks” is an expertly crafted example of the big Nu-Disco explosion and is already being championed by the likes of Tensnake, M.A.N.D.Y., Dubfire and Annie Mac. Plus he’s only 22 years old!  From straight up disco house to slo-mo stuff such as Age of the Jaguar – it’s just all good. Track him down.

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PetShopBoys – Left to my own devices – great new edit

Posted on March 30, 2011 by

Here’s an brilliant new edit of one of my all time favourite songs. It was included on Dimitri From Paris’ recent essential mix. Awesome.

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The Spring Day Mix

Posted on March 29, 2011 by

The sun came out for a couple of days to remind us that spring is here and summer is on the way. What better way to get into the mood than with some tunes mixed in the sun. Enjoy.

Download or subscribe

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R.I.P. CD singles

Posted on March 29, 2011 by

It’s finally happened, well, about to happen. Mercury Records is to abolish to production of CD singles. No big deal is I guess what most would say. But for me this harks back to the good old days of record stores, vinyl and searching for that elusive tune or mix. Plus, like vinyl, the CD single brought artwork, information and with dance singles, often mixes unavailable elsewhere or all collected together to make the most of the space on a CD.

Purchasing music is more instant now, it’s easier to find some obscure mixes, but an MP3 or dreaded iTunes quality version doesn’t cut it for sound quality. I’ll stop ranting about that now. I’ve a large collection of singles from the late 80s onwards and will never sell them. Never fear, you can still buy singles online via eBay or Matt’s CD Singles and other such sites.  Pictured is the wonderful “Good Life” by Inner City. Do you have a treasured single?

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