cubikmusik

bombay

*Apologies for the short, PR post. Slammed.

TR-One are analogue-obsessed soul assassins from deepest Carlow who try to join the dots between Charlie Parker, Arthur Russell and Juan Atkins. Also known as Broken Audio Movement (when playing records), they get love from the infinitetstatemachine.com crew and the Fine Art Out on POGO Recordings on limited vinyl (w/ artwork by Gaetan Billault) via Rubadub, and on download from June 21st 2010.

Really digging the sounds from these guys and while I didn't know Carlow was in any way deep I'm well impressed with the depth and sophistication of the sounds from my home town.

Loving 'Bombay' in particular.

TR - One - Bombay [POGO Recordings] by pogorecordings

ramadanman

i still like me a bit of minimal every now and again and this sure tickles that fancy for me.

ramadanman's 'humber' on the apple pips label out of bristol.

Ramadanman - Humber (Apple Pips Recordings) from applepips on Vimeo.

under the influence with...semtek

Well delighted to have the series continue today with this guest post from a gent and well respected producer from London. As you know we here at cubikmusik have a bit of a thang for bass and Semtek sure knows how to feed that habit with aplomb. Techno, house, jungle, bass, hip-hop and beyond can be heard in his tunes that are primarily percussion led to capture the dancefloor.

Once again we are treated to the sounds that an artist has grown up with in many ways to influence the music they produce today. We have one tune and mix included to get a flavor of these sounds so enjoy the read and the tunes. You can also check out his 'Bells' EP that just came out on November 24th. Check it on Soundcloud.

Much thanks to Semtek for taking the time out to do this. Much appreciated.

******************************************************************************************************************************************

I come from musical family, like many people who go on to make music their career. When I was growing up we lived in Brazil for a while and so Latin music forms some of my first musical memories. It wasn’t so much the more high brow sounds of Latin jazz to begin with, or the underground Baille Funk that interested me, but the mainstream salsa of Poncho Sanchez, a ‘protégé’ of Tito Puente. As a percussionist and band leader he is one of the best.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2slEwczH7cM&feature=fvw 

I became better acquainted with other forms like the Bossa Nova, through studying the double bass at school. The classic Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto recordings were a great reference for how to play Bossa Nova. I also had the opportunity to study with a former pupil of the famous Cuban bassist Cachaito Lopez. My teacher once taught me a version of Blue Moon which you could sing with only the accompaniment of the double bass, the body of the instrument forming the percussion section while the strings resonated.  
More recently though it has been Tango, and in particular the composer Astor Piazzolla, who I have been most interested by. His body of work crosses between jazz, folk and classical music in ways no one else has managed. One example of this is the renditions of his music given by Yo Yo Ma on ‘Spirit Of The Tango’. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUAPf_ccobc 
The first electronic music that I ever followed closely was the sound of hardcore and jungle. TV station The Box still played a decent selection of hardcore anthems in the mid-nineties. There was also a lot of information in the media about hardcore, with one episode of Inspector Morse in particular centred around the rave scene. The most important aspect of this music, for me, was its total eccentricity. In the episode of Morse that I mentioned, you see one of the characters sampling Mozart’s ‘Ave Maria’. Morse subsequently refers to it as ‘Magpie Music’. Here’s another track that appears in the episode, and also one of the most strangely and brilliantly named tracks that I own - Axe Corner – Tortuga. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbFTXFUDGGs 
Once I had discovered pirate radio there was no longer any need to trawl the TV listings for rave-bashing propaganda in order to get my fix. The most important stations were Dream FM (for happy hardcore and jungle), Kool FM (for jungle) and (for jungle and old school). Although a lot of people disowned happy hardcore, it was very close to jungle in the early stages days, and was a logical progression from what artists like 4 Hero, Nookie, and Jonnie L had been doing previously. ‘Hurt You So’ appeared on R&S eventually, who were championing Belgian techno from artists like Joey Beltram at the time. Thereafter, techno, hardcore and jungle diverged.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4_t6IwfaDY&feature=related 
Jungle music, as opposed to Drum ‘n’  Bass, is the ultimate party music, I don’t think you can dispute that. The combination of ragga vocals, breakbeats, gunshots, and so on, never fails to kick off a rave. There was more of an art to playing it when it felt futuristic, perhaps, than it is now when it feels ‘old school’. Some of the tracks are certainly better than others. There was also a hip hop element to jungle, which went with the music and the ethos. That inspired some of the best tracks, ‘Punks’ by A-Sides being my favourite.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ChtvaAXzhI 
Hip hop around that time was also a massive influence. The Wu Tang albums from that era were the first hip hop that I really enjoyed. The more West Coast Dre and Snoop sound felt alien, and still does today, and it’s sad that it has been blindly ripped off by so many recent ‘pop’ producers. Out of the East Coast the act I enjoyed most, in part because they were so difficult to get hold of early on, was Mobb Deep. There were legendary stories about their crew smearing excrement on Westwood’s studio wall when they were finally invited to perform on his show. Most of all from that era though, it’s the Eric Sermon produced ‘Tonight’s Da Night’ by Redman which sticks in the mind.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ChtvaAXzhI 
During the late nineties there were two really important nights in London, Sunday and Monday, and we used to do our best to get out on both of them. Sunday was Metalheadz sessions at the Blue Note (r.i.p.) in Hoxton Square. Monday was Gilles Peterson’s That’s How It Is night at Bar Rumba. The Sunday Sessions are still legendary, and after attending it’s almost impossible to imagine a similar club night ever appearing in London. The sound system at the Blue Note was similar to the system that lives at Plastic People now. There was a healthy diversity of sounds up until around 2000 when suddenly drum’n’bass lost its way somewhat, with the more rocksteady sound of Bristol producers like Krust, Die and Roni Size sharing the floor with tech step producers like Ed Rush and Optical, and the more experimental sounds of Photek and other East Anglia based producers like Klute, Digital and Spirit. Of all the music that was played at the Sunday Sessions, the track that stands out as being totally ahead of its time is Krust’s ‘Soul In Motion’. It’s a prototype for modern producers in all kinds of genres doing 10-minute long hypnotic groove-driven trips. You can’t even tell where the downbeat is for much of the track, a true piece of musical genius which transcended its context. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAoUOmqInPE 
It was around this point at which I stopped listening to drum ‘n’ bass after one of my friends began to introduce me to house music again. I’d enjoyed tracks like Frankie Knuckles ‘Tears’ and Rosie Gaines ‘Closer Than Close’ when they first came out, but we had been too young to go to the house clubs at that stage. The first house DJs I started to enjoy again were Sasha and Danny Tenaglia. Bedrock at Heaven was still a very successful night on a Thursday when we started going in around 2000. At the same time there was also a lot of UK tech house around of a superb quality. Bushwacka’s label Oblong was putting out forward thinking dancefloor music at around 130 bpm with a distinctly house groove. When people refer to tech house now they’re often talking about what I’d call minimal house, which is something quite different. UK tech house was loud and banging, not at all subtle or polite, and made with a great deal of skill by some of my true heroes. Lee Renacre, otherwise known as the100hz, is one of the most talented producers to ever have come out of the UK and its only a tribute to the modesty and laid back attitude of that generation that they haven’t been more widely acknowledged. Ian Loveday, aka Eon and Minimal Man, another producer of that generation, recently passed away and it’s his track ‘Semprini Rising’ that I’ll choose to exemplify the skill that they possessed in such abundance for making dance music. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh5kT4DyzSI 
House and techno clubs can be miserable affairs, there’s no doubt. The programmatic approach that promoters sometimes adopt is depressing, to say the least. One club that broke the mould when it first started and chose to do something decidedly different was Foreign Muck, at the Key. It was the first night to fully embrace European DJs who weren’t on the international scene, but had built their own parties abroad. Ivan Smagghe, D’Julz, Ata, M.A.N.D.Y. were just some of the acts that I saw there over the two years that it was running. While the music towards the end was becoming more minimal, it had started out with a very particular blend of disco, house, techno and dark ambiences that acts like Blackstrobe were championing around the time. In a way it was Electroclash, without the negative connotations endowed by the media. It was also around this time that Swayzak were at the top of their form, and if I was to choose a cd that recalls the sound of that era best, it would be the Swayzak Fabric 7 mix. Here’s one of the bittersweet masterpieces that I discovered, and still play a lot, on the back of that mix: Felix Da Housecat ‘What Does It Feel Like?’ (Royksopp Mix) 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luml9kleZrU 
It felt as though minimal house might destroy itself at one point around 2005, when literally every track that was being produced had the same sound family and structure. In a way it was the resurgence of disco, Chicago house and Detroit techno that saved 4/4 music from itself. Already around 2002 labels like Eskimo were releasing old disco masters which were featuring heavily in the sets of djs like the Glimmers, Soulwax, and so on. The cosmic (re) movement had its own crimes of fashion at time, with some ‘disco’ that might once have been called ‘trip hop’ and stuck at the back of Woolies for £2.50 passing under the noses of even the most ‘tasteful’ djs. However there have also been some massive successes, in my mind mainly amongst the tracks that have improvised at the slower speeds with more techno sound palettes. Force Of Nature, from Japan, are one of the acts who have been consistently excellent in this genre. Another is Ilija Rudman: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu24gTQDwqU&feature=related 
 
There’s a familiarity to a lot of the old Chicago tracks anyway because they have for so long appeared in the sets of DJs much more experienced and well-versed in house music than myself. It’s important though to do the research and understand the wheat from the chaff. A lot of the sound people associate with Chicago came from the use of certain Roland hardware, such as the 303, 808 and 909. There were a lot of artists experimenting with those machines around that time, and often my favourite ‘Chicago’ tracks aren’t from Chicago at all. One example would be Paul Rutherford (of Frankie Goes To Hollywood) ‘Get Real’: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu8YqH-oG5U 
In terms of the producers that are coming through now, I’m most excited about the ones who are taking an old school approach, learning their chops and trying to achieve a particular overall sound. It seems easy to make dance music nowadays to some people, but if you listen to the real heads who have been sitting at their mixing desks for twenty-odd years trying to hone their own style, you can hear how far ahead they are, and how effortlessly they blow away the competition, especially when you hear the tracks over a half-decent soundsystem. The same is true of DJs as well. It isn’t difficult to put on a couple of records, get a haircut and start demanding bottles of whisky every time you play. It is difficult to program a set of obscure music such that a crowd of people who have never heard it before, have never heard you before, and never even thought they liked dance music, are irrepressibly forced to move their feet. The DJ today who personifies this most, and without a doubt the best DJ of our generation is the mighty Prosumer, and here’s one of the more recent tracks I have heard him play which really exemplifies everything we should be about as musicians today. Crisp, emotive, subtle and loving.  

Justus Kohncke ‘Alright’ (Remix from Dirk Leyers (who with Matias Aguayo forms one half of Closer Musik) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=613crd20JrM

******************************************************************************************************************************************

Download 04 The Mount

Basic

Around this time last year I was sitting in JC's Vinyl Room converting vinyl into mp3 for posting here. We haven't had a post in this series for a while so here is an epic tune from 1994, coming in at just over 13 minutes that is some nice stripped down, bare minimal techno from the masters that are Basic Channel.
Not everyone's cup of tea but with its tight production, solid beats, high-hats and dubby feel you might be pleasantly surprised. ;)

Download phylyps_trak_ii.mp3

Buy: Discogs Marketplace, Boomkat

Check out the Basic Channel site for an amazing array of releases under various guises.

Cheers,

Love To Hate You

I so rarely go out to hear/see live music, despite the fact that I live in the Live Music Capital of the World (allegedly).
I don't know what it is about live music that just doesn't get me going. I guess maybe because I think it is hard to recreate good music well on stage. Or maybe I am just closed minded and don't want to change?

Anyways, maybe I will change my mind. After last weekend I am consciously going to try and go out and see live shows more. I got tickets for the LCD Soundsystem ACL aftershow that was going on at Red7 on Friday and so we wandered down around 10.30pm. I was excited to check out LCD Soundsystem and actually hadn't checked out who else was playing.
After the DJ on the outside stage finished up I was somewhat surprised to see two girls to get on stage in front of a laptop and some keyboards. Now, I'm not being sexist here but the reality (in my mind) is that it is rare to see females make electronic music. In my experience over the last 15 years or so I really don't recall seeing a female act or DJ.
When I say surprised I mean pleasantly surprised as it is great to see people going against the norm as it were. I would like to point out that really Austin has a very small electronic scene considering its size and musical inclinations and to so to hear good electronic that is home produced is a thrill. Now picture this, this act is not from Austin, but Wimberley, which has a population of (don't quote me on this) well below 10,000. In Texas. Not exactly renowned for electronic music. :-)

They are Lady Pterodactyl and they have kindly provided a tune to check out. Lady Pterodactyl have only been around since Feb. 2007 but have developed a style that is uniquely theirs to own but with some nice room to grow still. I had such a cool time listening to watching them play as their sounds are simplistically beautiful while being energetic with the show filled with genuine fun and passion.

So-thanks to Faiith and Sydnie for letting me post about them today.  hope you check them out, let them know on theirspace (or with comments here) if you are into their sounds.
I sure am.

Download love_to_hate_you.mp3

Cheers

Say U Will

Posting this for one of my best mates, P, who is over in NY with her brother Foges tonight.
P.-I reckon you'll like this tune. Someday soon we'll get to dance to it together. :-)

This tune is such a stomping, uplifting house track, with a solid ass beat, funky synths and warm vocals from Dajae who must be one of the undisputed vocal queens of house music. It reminds me of a compilation that I used to own by the late Tony De Vit for Trade, where the nights went on well into the wee hours of the next day with full on, solid tunes.
Cajmere has been around since the early 90's with such a stunning array of top tunes and this one, Say U Will, certainly continues that grand tradition. He just has a feel for what your body, soul and mind wants from a tune. Amazing.
You may also know him as Green Velvet producing more a sound that is more inclined towards techno so I am also posting Green Velvet's Flash. with the opening lyrics that may take you by surprise, especially at 1am in the morning. :-)
Now picture this as your hear this tune for the first time- a full techno club at the height of its success with the crowd of 500 or so people that has spent a few years worth of Friday nights together dancing to 'filthy mucky techno' and livin' it, lovin' it, largin' it. On comes this tune accompanied by strobes from all angles; needless to say....the crowd went wild!

That was then. This is now. Enjoy.

Download 01_say_u_will_original.Mp3

Download 07_flash.mp3

Buy Say U Will.
Buy Flash

Under The Influence with...JLS/ Little-D Soundlab

Back again with another 'Under the Influence with..... 'post. This time around we have JLS/ from the Little-D Soundlab. Back in December we had an excellent post from 40Winks that includded tunes from  Kraftwerk, The Roots, ATCQ, and others. JLS follows up with another great posts and some cool insights into what has influenced him musically. Cheers mate. As ever, check out a JLS tune at the bottom of the post to see what these influences have turned out.

1. Moms Record Collection

I played with the records a lot when I was a kid, often leading to me running around the house with my mom chasing me after I ruined a vinyl piece with scratching haha. Lots of soul, reggae, jazz and funk was inside my moms crate, and also a lot of Kawina records (a hi-speed percussion based style from my native country Surinam), Curtis Mayfield, Bob Marley, Roy Ayers(!) Motown compilations Stevie Wonder etc etc. The one that I really loved back then was Curtis Mayfield's "Roots" album.

Download 01_we_got_to_have_peace.mp3

 

2. Radio Patapoe
A Pirate station in Amsterdam that played the nicest tunes. I remember making tapes with my first deck of all the songs they played(I was..pff 10/12 at the time so this was 90/92. Lots of dub from perry and king tubby that made me fall in love with the low bass sound, you know the one you feel in your gut when played loud :) also recorded lots of house and experimental beats at the time.      

Download 07_king_tubby_king_tubby_dub.mp3

 

3.Ice Cube -Lethal Injection
Young kid looks up to cooler older nephew who rocks mad ice, had cool car posters and a gangsta cd-collection that was crazy!! still listen to Ghetto Bird a lot.
Download 02_ghetto_bird.mp3

 

3. Yuzo Koshiro - Streets Of Rage 2 Soundtrack (sega)
Why select a videogame soundtrack you ask? Well when I was 13 me and my little brother saved up all my money for the 16-bit revolutionary device "sega megadrive" and one of the first games whe bought was Streets Of Rage II a very good beat'm up game, but the thing I remember the most: The soundtrack! heavily influenced by the rave sound from the 90's, Koshiro made tracks that me and my brother danced on with the option screen on till 3 am in the morning.
One of the reason why I started looking for that house and jungle sound and investigating what you could find on vinyl and cd! . Thanks Yuzo!!
Download spin_on_the_bridge.mp3

 

4.Leviticus - Burial
With another kid in my class I got obsessed with the jungle sound from the uk, probably because of the low basses and hi-speed percussion (kawina!!) can't remember a lot of releases from that time (all on tapes and some cd's I can't find anywhere) but this track really got to me back then!
Download burial_lovers_rock_mix.mp3

5. Old Dirty Bastard -Brooklyn Zoo (remix? if you could find it, pass it to me!!)
Hiphop was starting with one of it's first transformations and I remember listening to a radio show called Dutch Masters, It was and is in my opinion one of the best radioshows I have ever heard with a great chemistry between hosts and an amazing tracklists. I remember hearing this song on my tape deck when I was 14 and it I was a wu fan from that moment on... just as any other urban kid at the time hahaha

Download 04_brooklyn_zoo.mp3

 

6. Pharcyde - Labcabincalifornia
Got this on a tape from a good friend from the UK and ever since then I was obsessed with a certain sound within hiphop and started the actual collecting and trying to spin it on decks, subconciously collecting a lot of j-dilla produced tracks in the process and a lot of work from the native tongues...essential for my musical upbringing and a turning point to.

Download 03_drop.mp3

 

7. Dillinja - Acid Trak
Goldie, Digital, Dillinja and Lemon D really came with an amazing sound filled with amen breaks and low basses that I fell in love it. it was funny but the scene splitted in two back then but I loved it both, I remember dancing on Acid Trak for a very long time. Classic and one of the reasons that I started dabbling with a sequencer and sampler. 

8. Roni Size -Brown Paper Bag.
The other side of the Drum&Bass spectrum I really liked was more jazz influenced and had a different dynamic (melodic,warm) in the productions. this is again one of the tracks that kept me up till late at night and influenced me production wise.

Download 102_brown_paper_bag.mp3

 

9. Mos Def - Universal Magnetic
Much sentimental value for this one.. It reminds of a time of going out with my friends, hanging out with girls and coming back late at night, a great time. Every time this track played I jumped away from friends moved to the dancefloor and sang the lyrics out loud and dancing with fellow fans of the song. I think I can spit this one backwards haha
Download 04_universal_magnetic.mp3

 

10.Dj Krush - Holonic self mega mix
Turning point. I remember hearing something on the radio that amazed me, beats like I heard on radio Patapoe when I was young and again amazed: no vocals but still the music creates an instant visual in your mind. Not knowing who the artist was, I rushed to every music store to find it, humming the sound to the people from the store, finally finding this cd, I fell in love with krush his way of producing and composing and with instrumental hiphop in general. labels such as ninja tune and mowax got my attention since then from a graphical and musical standpoint. Playing the cd over and over till this very day. And on my funeral.

Cubik note: I couldn't get a tune from the album mentioned above so I am posting one of my favourites. Sorry JLS.
Download 07_days_end.mp3
      
11. Richie Hawtin - DE9 Closer to the edit album.
I was part of a vj-crew called Prime Meridian back in 97/98. And one of our first sets in Amsterdam in the mazzo was a techno based night from Estroe. It was a fantastic experience to see our graphic designs and video on the big screen for the crowd that really liked it to, I remember being mesmerized by a song that was playing and asking the dj (can't remember who it was could have been Estroe but whoever it is... THANK YOU!) what it was. he/she said that it was a Richie Hawtin track from the Closer to the edit album. Hawtin created an unprecendented mix cd by cutting up 300 12" in pieces and making one big puzzle piece with it. It's minimalistic approach to the music really pushed me to look deeper in to the techno sound then I already did.

 

12. Basic Channel - The Climax (Carl Craig Basic Reshape)
Like finding eldorado at the age of 19. big inspiration to me and got me into a lot of labels in that mindset like Scape, planet E, delsin and many others.

Download the_climax_reworked.mp3

 

13. Stones Throw Records.
Big inspiration to me as a label, and one that has transformed the face of independent hiphop and labels in general in a very positive way. Always experimenting, always ignoring set rules..and making new ones in the process, Madlib's amazing array of styles, Peanut Butter Wolf and Egons managment skills(the amount of work they had to do in the begin stages had to be crazy) and musical knowhow, Jeff Janks art and design...in short: heroes. They had a great and tough year this year but I hope that they continue the way they do.

Download soon_to_be_large.mp3

 

14. The Little-D Soundlab Roster.
The initial start for me to start a label was to bring sounds that I really liked and that we're able to translate the way I thought a label should sound like: trying new things, defying genre rule sets, fusing older styles and mastering a few. Akida,Jolynn,40 Winks, Nono And Estroe really do things already with their productions and ideas, and that really pushes me to do my job a lot better everyday, I don't know what the future for Little-D will bring but the idea that i'm helping to push the sounds of these amazingly skilled artists to the world, makes me very happy.

Now-check out what the sounds above have turned out from JLS in the Little-D Soundlab.
Download Aftersurfdub.mp3

 

Fallen Arches

Nice tune coming to you courtesy of Foges in NY. Cheers mate-keep 'em coming. :-)

"I've finally dug out my old crates of vinyl and am going through them and digitizing the choicest cuts. Just wanted to send you one track from the Soma 50 compilation from  waaay back in '97. It's  a track called "Fallen Arches" by Maas and has a very smooth, aquatic Detroit vibe. It reminded me a bit of that Jazzanova Listen To The Drums remix."

Artist: Maas
Tune: Fallen Arches
Compilation: Soma 50
Download fallen_arches.mp3

Cheers,
Cubik

Sir Henry's Cork

I've mentioned Sir Henry's in passing before but today is the day when I go into some detail.

Old reliable JC passed this onto me this morning and I've been grabbing tunes like mad, full of nostalgia. For anyone who was at Sir Henry's in the 90's, or wanted to be there or just likes dance music from that time go check out what the guys from CorkDJs have come up with.

Sir Henry's (and Cork in general) always had the best nights out with a crowd that was always up for a full on party. I met some great people in those times- from standing in line to get the weekend started up to leaving and being invited to great partys ( a special shout out to Colm and Andrea at radio Friendly who broadcasted the after party at JC's stag!).

First off there is a nostalgia section with flyers from Sweat, the weekenders (see flyer below) and some pics (I may be in one of them! :-)

Then we have a trailer for a documentary about Sir Henrys. I really hope to see the full version of this as it tells a great story.                

"Sir Henrys needs no introduction: its walls saw some of the greatest DJs and club nights in Europe dwarfing any pretenders in other Irish towns and cities. Its demise and eventual demolition brought a tear to Cork hearts but the memories live on. Vinyl Films has embarked on what can only be described as a final and most fitting tribute. In this feature length documentary significantly titled “120 bpm” – a nod to the more relaxed pace of Henrys tunes – we are taken on a journey back in time with interviews from Greg and Shane, Stevie G, Jim X Comet, Henry’s manager Seán O’Neill, Mike Pickering, Radio Friendly head honcho Colm Moore, Graeme Park and New York producer Kerri Chandler."

A great story from this trailer comes from Jim X Comet when he talks about Laurent Garnier playing one Saturday night at the weekenders. I remember what he talks about (which is pretty amazing)-this was my birthday weekend and was a top night. Laurent Garnier was playing at 2am and mixed in Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' and as the chorus came in he hit the strobes and as Jim says it was like the roof was gonna come off the building!

And last but certainly not least-the cherry on the cake! The CorkDJs have gone and posted about 60 tunes that sum up Sir Henrys between 1987 and 1996!

Here are some of my favourites from back in the day.

Slam: Positive Education. One of the all time classic tunes-produced to perfection.
Download Slam.mp3

Sven Vath: Barbarella. From one of the masters of trance comes the hypnotizing Barbarella.
Download SvenVath.mp3

Jam & Spoon: The Age of Love. I just don't know what to say about this track. I never knew the name of it yet always loved it to bits. Beautiful.
Download JamAndSpoon.mp3

Ok-now we are getting towards the end of the night at Sir Henry's and gearing up for the after parties!

Rising High Collective: Fever Called Love. "You send me up, up, up to the highest peak."
Download RisingHighCollective.mp3

South Street Player: Who Keeps Changing Your Mind. Last tune of the night-in the courtyard of Sir Henrys, rain drizzling down but everyone dancing with all the soul in the world.
Download who_keeps_changing_your_mind.mp3

Then the after party!
4th Measure Men: 4You. JC's top choice always at his gaff. :-)
Download 4You.mp3

Thanks to everyone who organized, played and danced at those weekends-great memories.
I can't wait to go back for the reunion. ;-)

Cheers,
Cubik

Nothing Can Stop Us

This one just goes out to a special group of friends who, as I type, are partying at the other side of the world.
Great talking to y'all tonight. Wish I was there guys- enjoy this tune and the rest of your night. :-)

Download 10_nothing_can_stop_us.mp3

Cheers,

X
C

P.S. For the more minimally minded out there. ;-)

Download 04_your_place_or_mine.mp3

Turn Off The Lights

Two Three tunes here for you from Basement Soul Music: A Detonation By The Unabombers.
I usually don't post more than two tunes from a compilation but I just reckon that as about 60-70% of my visitors will not have heard of the crew that delivers this one I want to get more than usual out from it.
Um, Um! From the rockin' compilation brought to you by the superb crew at Electric Chair in Manchester. Here is the deal with the Manchester sound that I have eluded to before when mentioning Aim, Grand Central, etc. The term that can be used is Northern Sulphuric Soul, and really that  is....."music with feeling, encompassing diva disco, future spaced freaky hip hop/ r'n'b, afro, Detroit techno, mashups, house with a feeling, decadent 2-step, bad breaks and dancehall shenanigns."
So many of the crews from Manchester are consistently bringing a sound to us that just isn't really found elsewhere. Keep it up.

Artist: Leo Elstob
Tune: How High
Man, this tune to me brings back many great memories of listening to Digs and Woosh at the Sir Henry's Weekenders with that sweet style of house music that just gets you swaying all groovy like. This tune has got to go out to Fio'. :-)
Download 03_how_high.mp3

Artist: Frank De Jo Jo Featuring Terri Pace
Tune: Turn Off The Lights
A too sexy tune with a low and slinky bassline that will have shivers running up and down your spine.
Combine that with lines like "Daddy, when you talk that talk, I feel like a lady. Yes, oh baby, let me walk that walk. Turn off the lights." and you are hooked.
This tune really defies definition....think future disco, with an old-school funk beat, slightly speeded up miami bass along with a tacky porn soundtrack and you might come close.

Download 01_turn_off_the_lights.mp3

Now, to finish you off.

Artist: Donna Summer
Tune: I Feel Love (Patrick Cowley Mega Mix Edit)
Yes, most of us have heard the Donna Summer classic 'I Feel Love'. If you haven't, shame on you!
Well, how about this MegaMix from Patrick Cowley with his 11:20 version (I see that if you Google it there were 15:43 versions of it also.). And man does he take this track and blow it up with a pure, unadulterated sonic assault that is masterfully produced.

Download 11_i_feel_love_patrick_cowley_mega_mix_edit.mp3

When in Manchester go to the Electric Chair club and you just won't be disappointed.

My longest post yet?

Cheers,

Cubik

Cubik goes Cubik

Inspired by Pound for Pound's 'Can You Jack?' posts I need to pay homage to my (semi) namesake and post some Cubik tunes here. :-)

Today I bring you an 808 State tune, Cubik, in two forms and also, one of 808 States own, A Guy Called Gerald's seminal Voodo Ray in two forms.

808 State, so called after the TR-808 drum machine (can't beat the 808!), came out of Manchester, England and led the acid house way with some rockin' tunes.
Download 06_cubik.mp3
Also, I haven't really come across a group/artist delivering  a range of digital files such as 808 State. You can get some MP3's, bootlegs, fan mixes and midi tracks here.

A Guy Called Gerald: just check him out here DJ'ing on Samurai.FM.
I miss going to shows like this.
Voodoo Ray was the tune that really put British house music on the map in 1989-leading the way for that followed for 10 or so years rave/dance culture.
Download voodoo_ray.mp3

Now the second versions of both tunes from The Williams Fairey Brass Band- Acid Brass album.
Basically Brass Band versions of Acid House classics.
You 'could' read the Pitchfork review of said album but I wouldn't recommend it! To hear one form of music, excellently covered in another manner is something that I am really into.
You be the judge- just listen to the originals first!
Download 08_cbik_808_state.mp3
Download 03_voodoo_ray_a_guy_called_gerald.mp3

Cheers,

Cubik

 

PlastikSpastik

Artist: Plastikman
Tune: Spastik

Is this where I got the 'ik' in cubikmusik? Who knows?
Who cares?
:-)
So, Disco-not-Disco posted this tune today and I was brought back in time. Thanks for that Disco.
The tune he put up though is only about 3 mins long so I decided to post the full length tune so that you can relish in the percussion mastery of Spastik in its entirety. A tour-de-force in techno wizardy by Plastikman aka Richie Hawtin.
All I can say is..................UFO, circa 1993.
If you were there you'll know what I am talking about. :-)
Francois- the Duracell Bunny says hello.

Download 01_spastik.mp3

Cheers,
Cubik

Cheers JC

JC does it again.
So, here I am going through all the great tunes that he sent to me and I come across this one.
I can't say for sure, but I am almost positive, that this track was on the Laurent Garnier X-Mix-2 compilation from way back when and it never ceases to move me. I heard this years ago and never knew the name of it until today.
This is by Mr.Fingers and is called 'Can You Feel It' on Warp.
What a sweet track to just stop what you are doing to groove to-  6 in the morning slinky electro/techno at its finest.

Again-cheers JC.

Download wap02_can_u_feel_it.mp3