Latest News from djdownload.com http://www.djdownload.com/news Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 djdownload rss http://www.djdownload.com/rss/rss.gif http://www.djdownload.com/news.php 88 31 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=144 Forensic Records hooked up with two of Italy’s finest producers, Remo & Abyss, who are currently taking the electronic scene by storm with four new tracks jammed into their new collaboration EP, released exclusively here on DJ download. CLICK HERE TO CHECK THE NEW EP FROM REMO & ABYSS Amongst the masses of self hyped, facebook-fueled producers that consistently try the shortcut to musical success; there are few who choose to start with such solid foundations as these two hard working Europeans. It was the mystical and dark mover, ”Mind Games” on Ben Watt’s highly acclaimed Buzzin’ Fly Records that caught the eyes and ears of talented DJ and fellow Italian producer DJ Remo: “I was in Montreal for a gig, when I heard a track from Bender, a DJ from there, and I really liked it – the track was Mind Games by Abyss, says Remo.I had never heard of him before so when I came back I did a little research only to find his myspace and that he was from Italy too..” Clearly not happy with staying put as tea boy there, maturing under the sounds of Alex Neri, Abyss’s constant exposure to the club and music scene has had considerable influence over his productions today.Don’t be fooled into thinking that this experience was anything more than a foot in the door,“no one really helped me, all I have done is the result of my own efforts and determination” “I’m not a DJ”, states Giuseppe, who has always aimed his career towards that of production as a way of him seeing people enjoying his music. With a clear vision to create new and interesting music, experimenting with fresh sounds with a very high attention to detail, Giuseppe strives to be constantly different, something he admits is very difficult especially when most electronic music coming out of Italy instantly has tribal, electronic and minimal written all over it.These Italians are two producers that like to change, experiment and blend different genres, and between them their influences and tastes in music pretty much cover the full spectrum. All packed with his records, youth, determination and images of the white isle from magazines most likely read from cover to cover a hundred times, 20 year old Remo headed for the lights of Ibiza in the hope of a chance to get to play. “the first period on the island was not easy at all, it was very hard to find a place to play for a young guy” An introduction to the art direction staff, led to the chance to play on the roof terrace. An opportunity that would prove fundamental in making him one of their residents, not just for the summer, but for the next three years. ” I have been privileged to make my mess kit in such a big club, such a good starting point for my career” Although with different routes to success, and almost complete opposite starting points whether it be DJing or production coming first, both Remo and Abyss share the same passionate drive towards their exposure to music around them. With the Italians famous for style, it’s encouraging to hear that substance is something that both Remo and Abyss regard equally important with their approach to production.Melody, a factor often shoved into a dark corner of the studio and sadly forgotten about in a lot of electronic music today, is top of this list of importance for them both. “The most important thing for me is the presence of melody on the tracks, personally I consider the melody, the most recognisable feature of a track, the element that can make isolated sounds very unique... ..my tracks are based on melodic turns and I think this is what remains in people’s minds” a statement that couldn’t be more true with Abyss’ single “Mind Games” doing exactly what it says on the tin. With an artist album in the works and continued busy touring schedule DJ Remo shows no sign of slowing down, whist Abyss’s output strengthens his reputation as a solid Italian export to keep a close eye on. Words: Neil Bainbridge editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=143 News that the big distributor Amato is going bust is hanging like dark cloud above the dance music industry in the UK today. And the knock on effects could be really nasty.Amato handled the distribution of vinyl and CDs for labels across the board of dance including such wide ranging names as 2020 Vision, Tidy Trax, Border Community, Mn2S, GoodLooking, Underwater, Rekid, Anjuna Beats, Soul Heaven and Cr2.With the continuing decline in vinyl sales, many labels only make modest profits these days, so if they take a big knock by losing either money or stock owed to them by Amato, we could see some familiar names go under.As one of the few companies providing physical distribution services following the messy collapse of InterGroove last year, the effects of Amato’s demise will be felt hard at record shops and obviously by more than 50 dance loving employees at the company, who are suddenly without jobs and could lose wages too.While DJs today increasingly use digital stores like DJdownload to buy their music, most still hold a real passion for vinyl, and this news is a seriously big setback for the future of the format. Nobody wants vinyl to die, but it may become almost impossibly expensive to make and distribute it widely in the near future.The labels available in the store that need your support are Buzzin Fly Toolroom Pack Up And Dance Splank! Records Slave Recordings Rekids Gfab Records Minds On Fire Litmus Recordings iBreaks Records Junior Boys Own Farplane Tested Records HiLife Records Soul Heaven Recordings Neverwork Out Hear Audio Strange Feeling iBreaks Funk Toxik World Records Underworld Records Electraluxe Murk Classics Information Mythic Records Snick Snack Music L&V Music Peacemaker Toxic World Records Dorigen Music Cassette Records 2020 Vision CR2 Underwater Records Anjunabeats Milk 'n' 2 Sugars words: Tom Kihl editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=142 The man behind classic mix albums Y3K and Bedrock Breaks has drawn on the use of electro, breaks and his preferred use of melodic samples to create his latest offering. The respected DJ that is Guy Hamilton to his mum, or Hyper to us has just released Rewired on his own Kilowatt label as a follow up to the Wired album from 2004. This mix has a new feel to it, marking it out from his previous mix CDs by drawing on his preferred use of French electro sounds whilst using guitar samples to create a new direction. “I think my sound has moved on and this is clearly visible throughout my compilations. Rewired still has a lot of breakbeat orientated music but this time with a lot more guitars. "There are also a lot more of my own tracks on there than on previous releases. I'm 100 per cent happy with this album, I feel it represents where I'm truly at musically at the moment.”Bring On The GuitarsHyper’s release of singles No Rockstars and I’m Sick earlier this year gave an indication to the type of sound that Rewired would have were well received amongst fans and DJs including Digitalism, Adam Freeland and Eddie Temple Morris. I’m Sick is one of the many tracks which mixes the electro sound with guitars which runs throughout the whole album and he’s hoping it won’t cause fans to switch off and choose to listen to other breakbeat artists. “People who turn off a club track because it has a guitar in it really wind me up,” he states.Both music critics and Hyper himself are impressed with the number of tracks he has made for the album as well as collaborating with respected producers such as Alex Metric on the track System. Hyper’s experimentation with a band to create his last album We Control was well regarded and well placed in terms of what was happening on a wider scale in the music scene, with many bands using dance samples in their tracks, whilst on the flip side the likes of events like Ibiza Rocks proved themselves in the dance stronghold of Ibiza.More Creative Just as We Control was a coming of age musically, Rewired looks set to do the same DJ-wise at the tail end of this year. Guy is clearly not afraid to try a combined use of new sounds and interestingly, his website has a link for people to send their work through to, for him to check out. “I find that doing compilations and DJ mixes these days also allows me to be a lot more creative, i.e. editing tracks down or extending sections if I want to. I can also layer on little vocal sections or snippets if I need to.” Whilst many artists become tired of trying to create something new it seems that DJ Hyper is well and truly in his stride, based on a lifetime ambition to DJ, which as he himself states “I guess it was always a pipedream that luckily for me became reality.” Download Rewired now Words: Anna Baker editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=141 Nominated as a Breakthrough Act at the 2005 Breakspoll Awards, and Best Producer, DJ and Remixer at the 2006 event, Italian breaks hero Madox has settled in the UK this year and completed his eagerly anticipated album, turning out a tasty mish-mash of funk, electro, drums and techno in Urban Plastic. He originally signed to the first and fast-growing Italian breaks label, Mantra Breaks in 2003, having caught their attention with his locked funk style and techno energy. He released several G Toolz EPs featuring big baseline hits such as Resonance Song and Plasticfunk, receiving regular plays by the likes of the Plump DJs and Stanton Warriors. His reputation continued to build as one half of Trouble Soup! with label mate Santos, touring all over and releasing several remixes and their own Y4K compilation for Distinct’ive Records.More recently, Madox gained acclaim for his work with John Acquaviva on the 2006 electro-house anthem Feedback, and the popular single Running From, featuring Tommie Sunshine. Debut AlbumNow with his debut album, he’s pleased to produce a major personal project: “I’m always up for collaborations but it’s always different because it depends on the partner you are collaborating with. "Doing a solo work is completely your own thing, your way to see the music and the sound. I’m really happy with it because it folds all my Mantra Breaks experiences. “The album took some work with Madox putting in a lot of studio time: “It took me about a year and a half to put together the whole concept. Lots of tracks I’ve done along the way have been used just for vinyl releases. I wanted the album to be a sum of my past years productions so you can find in it loopy grooves, tribal, funk and madness…”As well as having a UK-influenced electro sound, there is a Brazilian feel to the album with the tracks Cabeleira and El Magnifico featuring Latin Grammy Award winners Cabal and DG. Brazilian sounds are a favourite theme with the breaks DJ, who had huge success with the record Adventures in Drum: Brazil Careca/Alemao released on Mantra Breaks in 2004. Roots Music“I’m really interested in all the kind of roots music - overall from my country, Italy, which have a strong music tradition - and I think that some kind of traditional music like the Brazilian or the percussive African ones are very groovy and full of energy. "That’s why I tried to melt those sounds with breaks grooves and rolling baselines. The result has been amazing for me, and the dancefloor goes nut every time I play those tunes. "Having said that, I love every single track of the album, the one that is getting more plays at the moment is Dope on Strings which is an electro stomping track with some glorious violins that never fails to burn the clubs.”Huge RespectThe first single release on the album, Plastic Fantastic, is set to be another stellar hit and features vocals by Ashley Slater, the frontman of Norman Cook’s outfit, Freakpower. Madox clearly has a lot of respect for Slater.“Ashley is an amazing guy, he is crazy like me and is full of creativity. I was a big fan of his past works and when he accepted to work with me I was happy like a child. We had a lot of fun together and I’m very satisfied by the result, I just wanted to do a pop track with some crazy vocals on it.”When asked about other artists in the business that he admires, he credits several. “I really like Jesse Rose, Claude VonStroke and Trevor Loveys at the moment for their forward thinking approach to music. "I’ve also been highly influenced by my label mate Santos and John Acquaviva, I learnt lots of things from our collaborations and it’s always a big pleasure to share the decks with them.”Womb PartyApart from working on Urban Plastic, Madox has been busy touring the world, including Australia, Japan and China. Having toured Asia twice before, it is a familiar trip, and Tokyo in particular, is his favourite place to DJ. “I love playing in Womb, nuff said! That club is incredible, the sound system is huge, the people are cool and I launched my album there the other week for their Halloween party (a special release on KSR records with some exclusive tracks).” Currently residing in London, he seems to be enjoying his new home: “London is so full of creative people, I’m doing a lot of things in the clubs, experimenting with new projects and getting in contact with all the key people on the scene. I’m still getting used to the weather and the food, but all in all, the life quality is AAA, if you don’t get drunk every night obviously,” he laughs.Although time-wise, he has found it hard to lock in studio work lately, he says he has a lot more on the agenda: “We have a double header almost ready for Trouble Soup! and then a new single with Acquaviva to be produced in the next few months and several new house projects under a different name...”Words: Emna McAlpine editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=140 He's the biggest UK producer you've never heard of. His records and his label, Living, get props from everyone from Bug to Villalobos to Weatherall to Vath. He's been remixed by Guido Schneider and remixed Efdemin, and been in Groove's top 10 techno releases of the year as early as 2003. He's released on Warp's incredibly cool offshoot Arcola, German labels Traum and Raum...Musik, Belgium's Curle and has a track coming on the UK's veryverywrongindeed and a remix of Petar Dundov due out soon on Music Man. He did the soundtrack for Channel 4's upcoming Burning Man film, the Tomorrow's World Live show and he's played more gigs in Europe than he is ever likely to do in the UK. And now dub KULT will be playing in the Berlin Cabaret room alongside Andre Crom for the VERYVERYWRONGINDEED warehouse party Dec 1. But before that, an interview... You have a very European sound, but you're English. What's your background? To cut a long story short, I was born in Zimbabwe, but heritage wise I'm half Indian and half English. Or maybe Irish? I guess my sound seems more European because the English have a tendency to put things into more narrow niches and my sound is quite broad so it naturally sounds more European. I've also always loved the European sound. Some of the very first records I bought 17 years ago were Belgium techno 12s as well as British music like Shut Up and Dance and The Scientist etc. I remember finding a sleeveless record in the bargain bin of my favourite record shop ever, Tag Records, in the mid 90s. One of the tracks on that was entirely made out of loads of layers of record clicks and pops. All the record had written on it was Acid Planet 6. Actually this has inspired me to look it up on discogs.com. Turns out it's a Dutch sub label for experimental techno. Sounds about right! Any way I just loved the freshness and fucked up funkiness of it. The other really stand out track on it was "Beat That Percolator", as I now know it's called. That track was dark, funky, experimental, original, catchy - everything I still love in electronic dance music today. On your website www.kult.co.uk, you have a quote from the Rainer Maria Rilke about learning to face death. When so much of dance music is purely about getting fucked up, why go the extra distance? I've always been an explorer, in a sense. Trying stuff out, see what happens. Clubs and parties were often the arena for that. As far as I'm concerned techno and drugs are about exploration, so it's totally appropriate to bring a level of depth to that. Even the idea of just getting fucked up is a quest to get into a state with spiritual connotations. The cessation of internal monologue is aim of every good Buddhist, but that state of grace or bliss is not so dissimilar from losing it on the dancefloor. What exactly are you losing? I'd say it's a sense of self, entering into a realm of pure being.I gave up the drugs a long time ago because that avenue had totally run out of juice. Although there is an initial opening created with drugs, a view into what's on the other side of the door, as it were - I came to see that with every comedown the door actually shut harder and harder and in the end drugs make you quite a fixed and rigid person with limited capacity for further growth. Are you intentionally secretive about your music, or is it just not obvious enough for some of the UK dance press? I'm not intentionally secretive. I can only guess that my music is not so easily pigeon-holed. When minimal started to get big I was amazed to see that my music was suddenly classed as "minimal". To me I was making the same experimental house and techno I had always done. I think it could also be due to the fact that nearly every tune I do is really quite different, so it's even harder to pin down my sound. It's human nature to put things in boxes. It makes life more digestible. As someone who's had a lot of success on their own terms, doing their own music, what advice do you have to people starting to produce now? Keep moving the mouse! lolListen to lots of different music. Don't just copy your 1 favourite artist. Find what you like for yourself. And then make music that actually does stuff.I'd also say don't get too hung up on technology and learning every little aspect of something. Just mess about with sounds and beats, and keep working on them till you finish a track. What's the remix process for you? What do you look for? The first thing I look for is sounds I like. I just need 1 or 2 to get the inspiration going. In fact, I really like it if there's only a few sounds I can use. Then I can go to town creating my own thing. Sometimes I don't even listen to the original until I've pretty much finished the remix. Then I listen to the original and hope that by some freak co-incidence it's not exactly the same. I think for the next one I might try a different way. I'll listen to it over and over until I kinda drift into that dream like space when I start to hear things that I wish were there or aren't actually there, but sort of dream cos it fits, and use that for ideas to make into a track. And finally, what is a perfect gig for you? A perfect gig is an intimate one where you feel a real connection with the crowd. Intimate doesn't mean small it can equally be 200 or 2000, but when they are into what you are doing and you know it. Then there's a real communication, a bond, from which you can be totally in the zone as and take chances, be more creative, use humour and drama. Posted on 02/11/07 at 17:55 editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=139 Two of the biggest forces in dance music are teaming up for this fantastic opportunity for any up and coming producers out there. Hit making machine Data Records(Responsible for massive hits from the likes of Fedde Le Grand, Eric Prydz and Mason) are teaming up with DJdownload to offer you the chance to have your remix included on a Data Records digital Release!!The track in question is none other than the all time classic 'Push The Feeling On' by Nightcrawlers A dancefloor masterpiece that hit #4 in the charts back in 1995!!The REMIX PARTS PLUS the Belocca Cheeky Bootleg Mix are available to download HERE for £3 What are you waiting for? get remixing! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL REMIXES MUST BE SUBMITTED TO THE BELOW ADDRESSES NO LATER THAN THE 26TH NOVEMBER 2007 POST: Nightcrawlers CompetitionFAO: Carl HanaghanMinistry of Sound103 Gaunt StreetLondonSE1 6DP EMAIL: nightcrawlers@ministryofsound.com ALL EMAIL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE SENT AS LINKS UPLOADED VIA www.yousendit.com OR www.sendspace.com ANY ATTACHMENTS TO EMAILS MAY RESULT AS BEING MISTAKEN AS POTENTIAL VIRUSES AND WILL BE DELETED BEFORE THE EMAIL IS OPEN ALL RIGHTS OF THE PRODUCER AND OF THE OWNER OF THE RECORDED WORK RESERVED. UNAUTORISED COPYING, HIRING, PUBLIC PERFORMANCE AND RADIO BROADCASTING OF THIS RECORDING IS PROHIBITED HAVE A GREAT TIME REMIXING THIS AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS THEN PLEASE USE THE EMAIL ABOVE TO CONTACT US editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=138 A big fat slap on the back is due for one of our favourite organisations today, as Chew The Fat! celebrate reaching 10 with a big party at The End tonight. (12/10) Having just completed a summer of hosting Fat! tents at what seemed like every festival going, plus a residency in a room of their own at We Love Space in Ibiza each Sunday, things couldn’t be busier for the organisation that grew from a night in a bar into a dance music powerhouse. We grabbed Paul as he returned from Ibiza last week: “The closing party rocked. Tayo was our special guest and smashed it with a bunch of dirty, crunky, jackin’ house records and Jem ‘Fanciuilli’ Haynes worked the room to the max. It was a wicked climax to an amazing season for us.” The Fat! DJ agency boasts an exciting roster of 16 exclusive artists with a strikingly wide variety of sounds, as highlighted by latest signings: fidget house maestro Trevor Loveys and garage don Zed Bias. It allows them to provide a full line-up of acts under the Fat! banner, something they seem to have particularly rinsed out in 2007 at festivals including Wildchild, Antiworld and Bloom.“We never rinse things out, we’re far too lazy for that,” Paul laughs. “I think the fact that we are here 10 years later and still a very underground club night shows that things have just naturally progressed. The night has built a strong reputation and following and always put on quality club shows and line ups. The Festivals were a bonus.”Their long-running original residency at Brixton’s Bug Bar became a bit of an institution on the breaks scene, bringing many of the genres hottest artists to the intimate venue on a weekly basis just as the music was blowing up internationally.Then they moved to the lounge at The End on Steve Lawler’s nights, where rumour had it they we’re far too successful for the headline DJs liking(!) but managed to score themselves a monthly slot running the entire club in the process.Their canny evolution from being a ‘breaks night’ to hosting a wider range of DJs and sounds was a combination of this expansion and changes in the scene as a whole.“To fill the club each month you need to be packing in some heavyweight line-ups, and breaks wise this was never an option as many of the DJs are under exclusive agreements with Fabric so they cannot play anywhere else,” Paul says. “Because of this we’ve programmed the nights very creatively and brought in a lot more than just breaks which has worked to our favour. There haven’t been enough established breaks artist coming through and what people forget is that breaks is a tiny scene in reality. "How many breaks albums out there are worth any note? Not many. Its great club music and there are some great artists but we're always trying something new. “Last month we started the night with Skream which worked really well. It gave the night a real variation and set it up for the DJs to follow. Musically I couldn’t be happier with the way Fat! is going as we move on from the 10th birthday. We’ve got Riton in the main room and Thomas Schumacher in the next couple of months which I’m well excited about.”Paul is a busy DJ himself on top of the promotion, agency and label day job, (he’s also behind the Certificate 18 d&b imprint). A music lover in the most pure and passionate sense, he still refreshingly refuses to take it too seriously.The infamous Fatmail sets the tone, and has a cult following for its vicious wit, while Paul has adopted the nickname ‘Trouble’ for his DJ work. We ask how, and does the original Ministry of Sound legend Paul ‘Trouble’ Anderson approve?!“I don’t remember exactly when it happened,” says Trouble Arnold, “but I think it was a close friend who just gave it to me as a nick name. Every time I’d go out I was always end up in a scrape or two. But other than the usual drunken shenanigans, it really got to be used when I’ve been on tour...”“I was held hostage by gunmen in Argentina, had a power cut 10 minutes into my set in Brazil, I’ve scraped through a fire or two, the Pope popped his clogs the weekend I was due to play in Krakow Poland so that was cancelled.” Trouble indeed.“I’ve never bumped in into the main man Trouble to find out what he thinks. I do remember always thinking it was a cool name when I was younger but mainly because he was a wicked DJ - massive sessions back in the days of Dingwalls. It’s only a word between two others, I think he would understand!”So on the eve of a decade of Fatness, with how does Paul hope things will look in another 10?“I hope we will still be having fun, enjoying life, not taking it too seriously and buzzin’ about new music as much as we are today. In what form that will take I am not sure but if lets me have as much fun I have had for the last ten then I for one will be very happy.”After tonight’s anniversary bash, the celebrations continue on tour across the UK and into Europe for the rest of the year. With storming recent output on the label including Unique 3’s rave classic The Theme, Hook and Sling’s mix compilation plus Merka's massive Bererka LP, things continue to go well for Fat! despite challenging times.Maybe Paul’s learned about endless patience, hard grind and not taking things seriously from his dedicated if long-suffering support of Ipswich Town Football Club?“I shall be sporting my new Town kit with ‘Trouble’ written on the back at the 10th Birthday tonight,” he says. “It’s not particularly cool and I don’t as rule really want to see a load of football shirt wearing hooligans at the club, but someone has to support them. Maybe in 10 years I will be able to buy them!”There could be more than a Fat! chance of that. editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=137 When you think of DJing competitions does your mind automatically turn to images of dodgy open deck nights at the local boozer populated by the kind of people whose only other experience of a mixer was in a culinary environment? Thankfully, the D-Joust competition is a far cry from the beer-stained amateurish affairs found on your local high street. In fact it’s the UK’s most illustrious DJing competition, offering precious exposure nationwide and beyond for the talented winner. Also up for grabs is the invaluable opportunity to spin a set at the DJDownload night at Ministry of Sound which many DJs would give their 1210s for, amongst a host of other goodies. Needless to say, those that have been following the contest through its preliminary stages will know that the competition has been stiff with many a budding house and breaks DJ falling by the wayside as D-Joust 2007 hurtles into its nail biting final stages. The first round of semi-finals kicks off on the 12th October and consists of white knuckle versus battles, with each winner playing the runner up, until there’s just one person left standing. Kicking off the first semi-final is Martin Holden (Welfare for the Digital) vs Jack Barham (Unique Music / Electric Boogaloo /Throb), Dan Chorlton vs Mina da Mix (Chix in da Mix) and Matthews aka Dr. Fish vs Roland London (The DJSkool, Passion FM). The second semi-final takes place on the 26th October, with the Grand Final scheduled for the 9th November. As an added bonus, join the D-Joust mailing list and every 20th new registration will receive free entry and 10 free downloads, courtesy of us lovely DJ Download people. So if you fancy catching the next big DJ before everybody else catches on, roll down to the White House in Clapham on the above dates, it promises to be a good one. Posted on 09/10/07 at 15:36 editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=136 Two years ago, rising producer and DJ Timo Garcia took the plunge and set up his own record label. Now on its 10th release, (the double A-side Piston The Wagon and Rattlesnake by Timo and Ricky Stone, pictured here together), Berwick Street Records is celebrating these 2 milestones in fine shape. “The release has been getting some amazing feedback from DJs across the globe,” Timo tells us, “with support as varied as Jon Carter, X-Press 2, Hernan Cattaneo, John Acquaviva, Jason Nevins, Flash Brothers and Anthony Pappa!” July’s big birthday bash at The Egg in London will go down as another highlight in the label’s short history. Others include “our second release, Discotech, being named Essential New Tune on Pete Tong’s Radio 1 show and Steve Lawler playing our fourth release, The Drop, at the Opening party of We Love Space last year.” But it hasn’t been plain sailing. “The launch of the label was very hard, in fact it was a comedy of errors at times since almost everything that could’ve gone wrong did,” Timo reveals. “From big things like the first vinyl not being ready on time to little things like not having a nozzle for the helium balloons. Then incredibly serious things like the first spate of London terror attacks happening on the initial launch party date which was then postponed for 2 weeks, only to have the second terror attacks happen on that date too.” It’s also been a time of huge change in the music industry, with websites and digital music making the nature of the business very different from what it was only a few short years ago. “The decline in vinyl sales has been a disappointing aspect to running a ‘record label’ over the last few years and a hard thing to get used to. "But on the other side of the coin the upturn in digital sales has more than made up for it, so long as DJs and music lovers alike shy away from illegal downloads and respect the artists and labels who bring them their music.” The label is forging ahead with the sort of tough techy music that sets today’s floors alight as Timo regularly teams up with talented young producers like the Cheshire Catz (now known as Catz) and Brad 212 Findlay. And thankfully, as the profile has grown and demand for Timo’s DJing internationally has expanded, he’s been keen to keep his feet on the ground. After all the difficulties giving birth to the Berwick St baby, he’s not going to be swayed from his mission, even though he’s happy to absorb what’s going on around him. “Living in East London for the last few years has definitely influenced my musical direction, although I make a conscious effort not to fall into some of the trends and fashions round here which sometimes place more emphasis on what’s cool rather than on musical content.” With more quality music imminent, Berwick Street is one label worth watching out for on DJdownload. Check out Timo's Digital Blueprint DJdownload EXCLUSIVE mix. Words: Tom Kihl Posted on 05/09/07 at 12:30 editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=135 His productions and remixes have been hammered by everyone from Sasha to James Zabiela, Sander Kleinenberg to Armin van Buuren, and his latest concoction, Glitched Out is an absolute belter; with techy, electro beats, unrelenting bass and a ridiculously catchy vocal. With a residency at Off The Wall! in newly re-furbed The White House in Clapham, plus regular gigs at Ministry of Sound and Chew The Fat! at We Love...Space Ibiza, Dom Kane is fast becoming the “Future Superstar DJ” that the Fat! Agency have publicly proclaimed him to be. Owner of Xeton Records and A&R for Randomize Records with Rui Da Silva, Kane’s mastery was well and truly noted last year when he added his trademark brand of dirty electro to Orbital’s Halcyon in his widely played rerub of the classic. And things just keep getting better and fatter. Glitched Out has been snapped up by nutritious breakbeat legends Fat! Records; he’s also joined the long list of talent on the books at the Fat! Agency. But despite releases on a breaks label you simply cannot categorize Dom Kane, and neither, it seems, can he. “Yeah it always makes my brain stumble when people ask me what kind of music I play! I guess it's just music for clubbers.” His feet are firmly planted in the Electro house camp, but he dallies in breaks, with dashes of tech, prog. and a thorough lashing of unique robo-funk filth. His free party roots have definitely played a part in the sounds he is producing now - his underground vibe is part of the appeal - but he denies becoming ‘mainstream’. “When I originally wrote Glitched Out it was made with an underground crowd in mind, but if it appeals to the mainstream scene, then I have no problem with that at all.” The track has already started seeping into the consciousness of seasoned clubbers. Pete Tong dropped it on Radio One’s Essential Selection and it’s been destroying dance-floors all over the country at the hands of its maker. “I've been getting phenomenal reactions to Glitched Out. I've been dropping it at every gig for months, and I'm still not even anywhere near bored of hearing it when I see the crowd reaction to that bassline come thundering in! "Each time I play it, more and more people in the crowd have learnt the words and are singing along to it. Really weird feeling to see that.” His “music for clubbers” has been spanking some of the finest rigs the world has to offer. He returned from a four-month tour of Eastern Europe last year, where, in one Russian venue he could hardly hear his own music. “There were points where I struggled to hear the monitor speakers over their screaming, whistling, and chanting. It was crazy! There was one point where they were even chanting my name over and over again.” With forthcoming Glitched Out remixes from Rui Di Silva, Unique 3 & Kid Blue, as well as a guest mix on the Chew The Fat! Show on MOS Radio, Dom Kane has the dance-world eating out of his hand. This man is destined for greatness. Better believe the hype. Words: Lowri Clarke Posted on 05/09/07 at 12:30 editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=134 Paul Woolford - a.k.a. Bobby Peru, Hip Therapist and simply Wooly – has been on top form of late. Not only has he been entertaining crowds from Leeds to Ibiza with his rump-shakin’ DJ sets, he's also been making a merry ole fuss with anthems like Erotic Discourse and his Detroitian Modernist trilogy on the NRK label. Turns out all this is merely a bit of throat-clearing for the main aria, so to speak. Not only is Wooly just about to finish his long-awaited second Bobby Peru album (named Paul Woolford presents Bobby Peru) he has also embarked on an experimental collaboration with his genetic jazz drummer father Paul Hession (whom he met for the first time 5 years ago, having been adopted as a child) and is launching a brand new label! “The new Bobby Peru album won’t be all house,” reveals the Leeds-based legend. “Around five or six cuts are four to the floor but the rest will be across the board musically. "It’s different from the last one in that it’s more individual and more focused. The last one was a mish-mash of influences. I was just throwing a lot of different stuff at the wall. "There’s been a long time between these albums and I’ve changed a lot as a person. I don’t tailor music for anyone anymore, and you can really hear the difference.” Wooly’s second album project will be much more experimental - “totally different to anything I’ve done,” he says. Having recorded an hour of his genetic father’s frothing, freeform drumming, Wooly has taken the results back to his studio where he plans to micro-edit the results and add his own production touches, such as keys and effects. The as-yet-untitled release will be released on Paul’s new label, Intimacy, which he regards as his first proper label despite dabbling in others over the years. With artwork by Output’s Trevor Jackson - whose design work Wooly has admired ever since studying design at college - the label will provide an outlet for all Wooly’s weird and wonderful production urges - dancefloor, spacefloor, or otherwise. “Before I was making house, I used to experiment with strange sounds in my bedroom,” he says. “I was inspired by people like KLF, Richard Kirk and The Orb early on, the way they used delays and ambient noise. "Doing this project with my dad has stirred it all back up for me, and I’ve found I’m even more ready for it now. "I’ve made a lot of disposable music over the years. Now I’m ready to go a bit deeper.” Words: Paul Sullivan Posted on 05/09/07 at 12:30 editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=133 I'm always battling the parrots squawking here at the pad,” chuckles Chuck Love lovingly. “So I just have to build in the good bits when they come.” Love’s philosophical, animal-friendly approach has worked out well for his debut album Bring Enough To Spill Some. Rather than let his screeching pets put him off his stride, he has managed to build some of their colourful conversation into his project. It’s a wonder he didn’t invite his dogs to guest too – oh, there’s a reason for that. “The dogs were a little uptight about Matt Darling's trombone when he did the session,” explains Chuck. “But the video of the Oasis of Luxury Wildlife will be coming soon.” Chuck’s animalistic asides add idiosyncratic charm to his mellifluous and warm debut album, one that celebrates the producer’s chunky house studio talents as well as his skills behind the decks. Having started out as a musician backing DJs on trumpet, guitar and anything else he could find, Chuck soon found his way around the studio and turntables, and nowadays acts as his own front man while laying down tunes, playing flute, trumpet, guitar, melodica and percussion as well as dropping his own vocals. Made up of two separate discs, Bring Enough To Spill Some boasts 14 original, edited and re-mastered chunky Chuck cuts on the first set, including collaborations with house siren DeMonica (on Spread The Love), Estaire Godinez (on Bailando), and longtime Twin Cities studio buddy Fourfeet on a handful of others. Also featured is Love’s dancefloor anthem Back In My Life (featuring Fourfeet on vocals). Disc two, meanwhile, is full of Love’s finest remixes and a selection of choice cuts, including Andy Caldwell's Warrior, Colette's About Us, and DJ Fluid's Keep On. “I really wanted to have a definitive collection of what I do for my first LP,” says the Minneapolis based maestro. “Something I could hand someone and say ‘here's what I've been up to for a couple of years’. I wanted to reach a wider audience beyond the DJs that are already familiar with my stuff.” Words: Paul Sullivan Posted on 05/09/07 at 12:30 editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=132 WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO ME? - all user account preferences have been set as default to 320kbps and the standard price of a 320kbps MP3 has dropped by up to 55p per track. Generally, there is a the same standard price for both new releases and catalogue.- the majority of pre-release promos & exclusives will also be at the new standard price but sometimes may be at a slight premium. WHAT ABOUT 192kbps...? - You can still buy at 192kbps as default by changing your account preferences on the “My Account” page. The price of these has also been reduced... - OR -- If you only want to to buy some items at 192kbps, you can leave your preference at 320kbps and simply change the quality in your cart when you check out... ANY CHANGE TO ALBUMS? - No, but because the default is now set to 320kbps, some albums may appear more expensive than they were... if you want a 192kbps version - change the quality in the cart...- Remember, DJ mix albums are only offered in 192kbps...WHY HAVE WE DROPPED THE PRICES?Ever since djdownload.com was launched, we have always been advocates of ensuring a fair return for both labels and artists and priced our tracks accordingly. As a result we have always been thought of as more expensive especially when compared to sites based in the US with dollar pricing. That said, we still firmly believe in a fair return to artists and labels and we strongly believe that the market conintues to grow and that increasing volumes will offset reduced prices. We will be working harder than ever to maximise the money that flows back to the talented producers that make the music we love.We are finally setting our prices at a comparable level to those sites offering tracks in USD as we think US customers need to be able to buy from UK-based stores without paying double the price. In addition, we think a tiered pricing system where users in one territory get to pay less than users in another simply because of the exchange rate is unfair.We offer the same net retail price across the board to everyone and UK consumers can buy at the same price as US and other users.The pricing is now comparable to any store in the world and we believe excellent customer service, great repertoire and continually improving technology will set us apart! editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=131 Purveyor of deep, smokey house grooves for labels like Front Room Recordings, Perlon, Ovum, Music For Freaks and Innervisions, Berlin-based Stefan Goldmann has been quietly delivering release after release of groovy electronic goodness since he first made waves with his “Shnic-Shnac EP“ on Classic back in 2002. He continues his fine form in 2007 with his easy-going remix of IT’s ‘Women In Toilets’ and his own warped ‘Beluga’, and it’s this consistency that has seen those Mulletover rogues invite him over to headline their room at their Mulletover meets ISSST party in London on Saturday 7th July. Stefan took some time out from his day to day bizness to fill us in on his particulars. Now who said Germans don’t have a sense of humour? When and how did you first discover electronic music?A friend of my parents gave me Tomita’s “Pictures At An Exhibition” synth record for Christmas when I was 5. Does that count? But of course! What about clubbing/raving? What were your first experiences like?I believe my first club visit was seeing Shy FX at a club called WTF in 1995. This was awesome! Obviously I was more into drum’n’bass then. What really turned me on to house was Dixon’s residency at WMF – once he did a Svek night there which was quite memorable. Think I never told him that. How would you describe the music you make? And how do you feel this has changed over the years?I can’t, and it’s not really my job to describe what I do. As for my intentions, I try to do every single track in a way different from all the previous tracks I’ve done. So if I managed to do so, naturally a lot of change should have happened over the years. The worst thing in music production is sticking to a formula. Aside from the styles of music you produce, what other forms of electronic music really excite you?To be honest, I’m more excited by Mr. Bungle and Meshuggah now than by any recent development in electronic music. Who would be your dream collaborator in the studio? Living or dead?John Zorn. Dead or alive. Your track ‘Sleepy Hollow’ has been massive over the past year. It’s very distinctive for sure. Any background story about that?Yeah, there is one actually. ‘Sleepy Hollow’ was originally made for Perlon, but they were unable to release it in 2006 and we agreed I’ll give it a release somewhere else. I then got CD-Rs out to Richie Hawtin, Villalobos, Luciano and Dixon (who later signed it for Innervisions) – who all happened to rinse it at WMC. Some of them passed it on to people like Steve Bug, Carl Craig, Garnier, Lazarus, and Gilles Peterson – without my permission of course! Anyway, this way it became the hit at WMC that year and from then on there was no way back. The history of this tune is a great exercise in name dropping. Sorry about that. If you’ve got it...flaunt it. Are you still Berlin based? Is it as much fun as everyone makes it out to be?Oh yeah, it became almost impossible to leave. It’s more fun than you can imagine in your wildest dreams. West Berlin is the next big thing though. Do you think the whole minimal “trend” will die down anytime soon?Trend? Die? It just starts growing on me. You will be playing for Mulletover at their joint party with ISSST on July 7th somewhere in London. What do you know of the two respective parties?Did you know Tiefschwarz named a track after Issst? Issst is probably the most Berlin you can get in London. A lot of my DJ friends have been playing Mulletover, so I’m well prepared. What were your previous experiences playing in England like?I had my first UK gigs due to Jesse Rose, who was just starting his career back then and managed to get me over on several occasions. We played some smaller spots together, such as Bridge and Tunnel in London and Scuba in Sheffield. I especially enjoyed playing in the North, since people seemed to go from the door straight to the dancefloor. You don’t have that anywhere else. We really had a good time, but now playing Room 1 at Fabric is quite a thrill too (for Jesse too I suppose). Do you have a favourite time of night to play or does it not matter to you?That totally depends on the place. At Panorama Bar for instance I really love the opening spot from midnight til 4, although they always try to convince me the one in the morning is the best (which is around lunchtime on Sunday). When you start early on, you can really build a set towards something, while at peaktime people kind of won’t tolerate me playing Derek Bailey, if you know what I mean. Interview by Ben Gomori editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=130 The common perception about Berlin-based DJs is that they engage in the kind of three-day debauchery that would make Oliver Reed blush. But when we get to speak to Sebo K, one of the rising stars of the German house scene, he’s knee deep in textbooks, getting ready for university exams. Surely this is some kind of joke that’s been lost in translation?“No, it’s true,” Sebo explains in slow, deliberate tones. “My course is called business communication, which is all about advertising and marketing.”So just as Ricardo and Magda are getting their second wind at the after-after party, Sebo is taking his place in the lecture hall. Does he ever feel like he leads a double life?“On Monday morning, that's exactly what I think! Travelling and DJing all over Europe interferes with being a good student, but everything is possible. It's just a question of a good time management and discipline,” he believes.Sebo’s combination of US-style house with angular, Germanic rhythms – and on Moved, the flip side to the irresistibly moody Horizons, deep, ominous vocals - makes him one of the most popular artists on Mobilee, the label that his friend, Anja Schneider started two years ago – “once she told me that she'll start a label there was no doubt I’d be down with it”.Ironically, he feels that this dual existence helps rather than hinders his studio work.“It's very inspiring to do something else beside music,” he says. “I don't have so much time to produce because of my studies, so when there's some time left, I am really hungry!”Sebo’s latest release, the Lil Louis-inspired building riff of Transit for Get Physical, has the potential to move him from the underground into dance music’s mainstream, as it pushes his sound further towards a classic US house sound.Meanwhile his debut mix CD, Back Up, for Mobilee, sees Sebo combine tracks from American producers like Kerri Chandler, Dennis Ferrer and Larry Heard’s The Sun Can’t Compare with deep European techno from Marco Resmann, John Daly and Efdemin.“Detroit and Chicago are still big influences for me, that's the real, timeless sound,” he explains. “Producers like Heard and Chandler maybe are getting more attention now again because the people are getting a bit bored of the minimal sound now.”After the mix is released, Sebo has a ‘deep vocal track’ due out on Mobilee in the autumn. Before he can return to his studies, one questions remains: is the ‘K’ part of his name related to the minimalists’ stimulant of choice?“Ha ha, that’s funny, a friend of mine gave me the title of ‘Germany's Special K’,” he laughs. “K is just the first letter in my second name and Sebo is my nickname, so it’s all quite innocent.”Words: Richard Brophy editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=128 Lars Sandberg is going through some changes and his deep house alter ego Francois Dubois is providing the soundtrack. Recently divorced but still based in Barcelona, the Scottish producer has a five-year plan. “I’m 36 now and can only see myself DJing for the next five years - maybe someone like Sven Vath can carry the can into his 40s, but I can’t see myself doing it,” he says. “I’m opening a club in September: it’s called Antidote, a small, 300-capacity venue just off the Ramblas (Barcelona’s main thoroughfare) and we hope it’ll shine a new light on the city’s scene.” Although the Catalan capital is home to the annual Sonar festival, Lars says that for the rest of the year, he’s ‘embarrassed’ about Barcelona’s clubs. “The city doesn’t have a Rex, a Watergate or a Panorama Bar and I want Antidote to be on an international level, a place where my friends can play - it might be an uphill struggle doing it because I’m not a local, but I’m going to try my best,” he explains. What it lacks in impressive club spaces, Barcelona compensates with its warm climate and a beach near the city centre, the scene of many planned and impromptu parties. Consequently, more producers and DJs are moving to the city - with Audiofly, Mathew Jonson and the rest of his Wagon Repair label recently relocating there. This goes some way to fulfilling Lars’ goal of having a strong electronic music ‘collective’ in the city and already, Sandberg’s collaboration with another recent arrival to Barcelona, Irish producer Sian, is coming to fruition. We’ve done a track together, Gimlet, which is the name of my favourite cocktail bar. I also think that we’ve invented a new sub-genre of house: we call it ‘creep house’, because the track sounds very spooky,” he explains. Before we get excited about this new sound, Sandberg’s latest single, I Try, as Francois Dubois on Urbantorque is reliving the early, hazy days of dance music. Featuring old school house keys and breathy vocals it re-captures that innocent, uplifting feeling of dancing on a beach as the sun rises – which makes it ideal for Barcelona’s open-air parties. I want to do a fourth album as Funk D’Void for Soma, but as I get older, I’m leaning more toward deep house and am reaching a bigger audience with the Francois Dubois material,” he explains. It’s inspired by early 90s house releases by MAW and Tyree Cooper and I’ve already got a great name for a Francois Dubois album – ‘Vive Le Deep’,” he adds. It doesn’t sound like too much sun has clouded his judgement, and, following a limited edition run of his ‘Fuck Berlin, Barcelona Has A Beach’ T-shirt at last year’s Sonar, Lars is also starting a clothing company. “It’ll start with T-shirts, but who knows where it’ll end,” he laughs as he heads back into the sweltering sunshine. Words: Richard Brophy Posted on 20/06/07 at 12:53 editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=127 A blog site has run a T-shirt design competition with a musical twist. Each slogan must speak up against the DRM protection major record companies use in their attempt to stop people sharing tunes on the internet. DRM (or Digital Rights Management) stops users making copies of music they have legally downloaded. It is widely disliked for being annoying (stopping people moving music between devices like laptops and MP3 players), and ultimately pointless (as hackers know how to break the code). It’s also a nightmare for DJs, who need to know that their tunes will play on any device whenever they need them. Now the pressure is on the major labels to abandon DRM completely, from slogans on T-shirts to the recent announcement by EMI to sell their catalogue DRM-free via online retailers. Using DRM hasn’t stopped illegal sharing of music anyway, and by treating everyone as potential pirates, it may even have made the problem worse by encouraging people to simply download more illegal copies of tracks made from CDs online. All music bought on DJdownload is DRM-free, in the belief that customers have the right to listen to the digital music they buy responsibly and in any way they choose. Posted on 21/06/07 at 12:39 editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=126 "As far as I’m concerned, there are only two types of records; ones I’d play and ones I wouldn’t, says Hong-Kong born Janette Slack, one of the hottest – and more outspoken – new talents on the dance scene. “A good track is a track: who gives a flying fuck what genre it is.” Janette’s genre-conscious comments are a sign of her frustration at getting pigeonholed as a breakbeat DJ. Fans of Janette will already know that she throws out a diverse array of styles, but due to previous guest appearances on Atomic Hooligan ’s BreaksFM show and spots on bills alongside the Plump DJs, Hybrid, Freestylers, Hyper and Stanton Warriors, she became known as a something of a breaks ambassador. “I started to play a lot more breaks 8 years ago, as it was something refreshing and new to me,” she says. “I really wanted to push it when I was growing up in Hong Kong as it was mainly house and harder stuff you would hear out. But there we'd just go out and enjoy ourselves without getting too hung up on what it is the DJ is playing. If you don’t like the track, then wait 4 mins, it’ll be over soon, hope you like the next track coming in.” Janette moved to London several years ago to attend a Sound Engineering course, and has simultaneously made a name for herself as a DJ and a producer. She has also been involved in label-management, club production, stage management and modeling, and even recently appeared on screen in Doug Pray’s short film series Veer on “people who embody an independent attitude”. He couldn’t have landed a more suited personality. “Y’know, I wish there were more hours in the day,” she says of her hectic schedule. “Or that the human body could just sleep for 30mins and you could function like a normal human for 4 days. Or even better, have some magic button where you could stop time for a bit. Time machines are too high maintenance, and I don’t have enough room, so fuck that.” Janette currently shares a monthly residency with the Disposable Breaks DJs in London's Inigo, and holds down numerous residencies around Europe. Shake ’n’ Play, her forthcoming single, is her first collaboration with Dogmatix. Released via Ali B’s Air Recordings, it’s a funky and raw breakbeat cut, though Red Ramona on the flip – a solo production from Janette - is deep, driving and a more house-influenced cut. She is working on more remixes and original material to be released later in the year. “They’re all different from each other,” she warns. “Some are more techy than others and some more proggy and breaky”. Janette also has DJ gigs lined up all over the country and abroad later on in the year, so you can check out her diverse style for yourself. “I’m loving the variety of gigs I am getting. Breaks, house, gigs with bands and Torture Garden. I’m really looking forward to playing at Global Gathering in the Air Arena too. Festivals are always fun as people are just up for it.” Words: Paul Sullivan Posted on 21/06/07 at 12:12 editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=125 While some music producers balk at having their records copied, manipulated and spliced, others seem to consider the idea flattering. Take Unique 3, a.k.a. Edzy, whose legendary tune The Theme was an out and out rave classic, (it inspired the guys behind Warp Records to first set up the label in an attempt to sign it as their first ever release). When he heard bootlegs of his track being played recently, Edzy didn’t get angry; he just wanted a copy for himself! “I’d heard two bootlegs and had been trying to buy a copy of a third because I liked it so much,” laughs Edzy. “After ringing around some distributors, I thought I'd got the number for one of the bootleggers, but when I called all the walls went up. Obviously they thought I was chasing money or was looking to send trouble their way. However hard I tried to explain that all I wanted a copy of the vinyl. I got no sense and I got no vinyl. So I got to thinking that if, all of a sudden, there's this kind of interest, I should dig up 'the old girl' myself…” To get his own bootleg, Edzy decided to hold an official remix competition on Warp’s Bleep.com site. He subsequently received over 800 mixes from as far away as Hawaii, New Zealand, USA, Japan and Germany. “A handful were blank CDs,” he says, “possibly intentional, but there's a limit I can go to with Minimal! In the end, I was left with 780 mixes to choose from. I was snoring that bleep and that bassline in my sleep.” Now Fat! Records has released a remix package of The Theme (with re-workings from Merka, The Rogue Element, Dom Kane and Rhythmatic), and Edzy has whittled the competition entries down to 10 and will bundle them together (along with remixes from Autechre and Zilla) to download for a 'nominal fee’. Money will be donated to www.savetheorangutan.co.uk underlining the fact Edzy - who is currently working on a new Unique 3 album, due out this year - is nonplussed about people ‘ape-ing’ his work. “I love re-rubs/VIP mixes/illegal remixes, whatever you want to call them,” he says, “how can you not? If you have a track that is working the dancefloors enough to have grabbed the attention of that guy who sits in his darkened cellar, knocking out illegal re-mix after remix, then you must be doing something right. A crap tune never gets re-rubbed! “It's odd but it's great to hear not only the new breed of mixes but the old original mixes still working and to see the crowd going wild again 19 years after the track was first played. It makes me happy to know that we obviously got something right, all those years ago.” Words: Paul Sullivan Posted on 07/06/07 at 17:32 editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100 http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=124 Electro house: it’s everywhere! And no one knows that better than Phonique, aka Michael Vater. The Berlin-based DJ/producer is lumped in with this scene because Tiefschwarz’s soaring bass remix of his Red Dress is his best-known release, but scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find a talent with a wide range. His 2004 debut album, Identification on Dessous, contains For The Time Being, an overlooked pop classic featuring Kings of Convenience singer Erlend Oye and Phonique’s second album for Dessous, Good Idea, expands on his song-based approach. Oye’s innocent vocals feature again on the melodic Casualties, Berlin singer/producer Richard Davis guests on the warm, chord-led Always Wanted and newcomer Ruben’s vocodered contribution lends a mournful feeling to the wistful Rio Nights. So is Phonique just a pop producer trapped in a house DJ’s body? ”Ha ha, you could be right,” he laughs. “I was trying to think of a name for these tracks, and because pop is such a dirty word, I called it ‘underground pop’. It’s interesting to see how people react to it: I played the tracks to Gui Boratto (the Brazilian producer) and he said it was like some of the Pet Shop Boys work. I’m not a fan, but I respect them, so I’ll take it as a compliment!” The other sound driving Good Idea is classic house. Technology means it is possible to make the jacking rhythms and warm, acidic basslines pioneered in Chicago sound stronger - just check the evocative Mexican Sunrise and the plunging, Larry Heard-style squelchy bass on Always Wanted. “My music is influenced by classics, but house has developed over the years,” he believes. “Nowadays, if you produce a track inspired by classic house, it will sound much better. Back in the day, the producers didn’t have the knowledge or the equipment to do it any other way.” Phonique’s old school beliefs extend to record labels, many of whom he feels sacrifice quality for quantity. “Most electro house and minimal labels are releasing a lot of rubbish. I play some of it, but minimal is so easy to produce and a lot of it sounds exactly the same. I’d better stop now, I’m beginning to sound like my mother!” The album also sees Phonique resurrect hip-house, that fusion of house and hip-hop on Computer Kidz, while there’s even a soul-funk workout, Worked It Out. “I always loved hip-house, especially Tyree Cooper, and I’m very happy with Worked It Out. A lot of club music is disposable and I hope to be able to listen back to this kind of music in five years. I want to do more of this style and this is what my third album will sound like,” he says. Good Idea is available EXCLUSIVELY (until June 1st) to download HERE. Words: Richard Brophy Posted on 25/05/07 at 15:24 editor@djdownload.com Fri, 09 May 2008 14:30:40 +0100