A Bunch Of 12s

The year in music so far hasn't been characterised by great albums - not for me at least - so much as great singles, mainly in the dance music sphere. Sure, there's been some cracking full-lengths from debutants (Hercules & Love Affair, Quiet Village, Vampire Weekend) and reliable old hands (Bad Seeds, Supergrass, The Dirtbombs) alike, but aside from a small few, nothing has had the replay value of some of the year's 12"s.

Perhaps the single - which some commentors will try to inform you is dying out, misguidedly - is the perfect format for our times? You get two, maybe three tracks - four or five if you're lucky - and out, with no time allowed to test the patience. The single therefore lends itself to addiction more than an album does. The more commercial artists out there - they who populate the top 40 - have indeed lost sight of what makes a good single. If you stick the song on iTunes with maybe one bonus track, then that'll do just fine. The consumers like it this way because it's less unwieldy than a big, black plastic disc, or even a small, shiny plastic disc. It's iPod-ready and doesn't take up any space.

But what of those who like something a little more tactile? Something they can hold in their hands or place on a shelf. Are these people being short-changed? Not if you like your modern disco and house music it seems. By the way, I know that the mp3s I'm about to post make what I've just said seem a little hypocritical but indulge me, okay.


London's shadowy Dissident imprint is still chalking up the releases like Chris Partlow and Snoop rack up the bodies. They're also still limited, pricey and, in the main, one-sided. Now £8 for one track might seem a little too much for some (it is for me, with my paltry income), but that hasn't really stopped them becoming gradually more revered with each 12". The frequency of Dissident's releases might well decrease their collectibility in the long run, but the minimalist chic of their labels (all variations on the same theme, only the font for the artist and title change) has marked out a style at least.

Also, you can't really argue with their output so far. Mainly dealing in twilit Italo and pastoral Balearica, with the occasional tech-y diversion, they're developing a distinct in-house sound. Their 2008 releases so far have been pretty uniformly brilliant too, with particular plaudits going to Ali Renault's slo-mo, drugged-out electro-disco, 'Our World Is...' and the long-form lushness of Gatto Fritto's 'Hungry Ghosts'.

My personal favourite has come from Truffle Club though. If we're to believe the rumour (and why not? He's used the moniker more than once in the past), Truffle Club is the work of Optimo main-man, JD Twitch. The neon-flecked, Blade Runner grooves of 'Gone Blue' marks Twitch out as a producer to keep an eye on. 'Gone Blue' pulses and shimmers with bleary-eyed wonder and is a perfect end-of-nighter for those with a passion for old sounds given a modern twist.

Truffle Club - Gone Blue (mp3)


Mock & Toof have been laying the releases on a little thickly as of late too, with two 12"s on different labels. The self-released 'Big Hands For A Lady' is a doozy, but it's their recent three-tracker for Tiny Sticks that has me reaching for the stylus over and over again. A double-A with an extra remix thrown in for good measure is mighty good value, especially seeing as the two lead tracks are the best things Mock & Toof have put out so far.

'Beat Up' does the jazzy-disco thing, with sneaky Afro elements incorporated that they do so well, but there's just something about that maddening, corroded Rhodes line that screams addictive. 'Lucky' on the other hand is a gentrified little slice of moody electro-pop that still retains their ear for the unusual. Darshan Jesrani of Metro Area then sets about giving the raucous kitchen-sink disco of 'Black Jub' something of a classy makeover, turning it into an altogether spacier, more cosmopolitan affair. I await the forthcoming album with bated breath.

Mock & Toof - Black Jub (Darshan Jesrani Hot Seat Mix) (mp3)


It wouldn't be a post about 12"s without me looking in on what DFA have offered forth lately. After a veritable flurry - for them anyway - of releases in the first couple of months of 2008, they've gone a little quiet now. But while everyone was busy trumpeting Hercules & Love Affair's stellar debut album, they flung out a couple of singles from some master producers of quality dirty disco that you may well have missed.

First up, there was Syclops' 'Where's Jason's K?'. Now, whether you believe that Syclops are a band from Finland who, conveniently, "don't tour or do interviews", according to their MySpace, or whether it is just another in a long line of aliases from Maurice Fulton is by-the-by. This is his/their fourth 12" now, following one on Fulton's own Bubbletease label and a couple on Tirk and it is most definitely a Fulton joint, all wobbly, agitated synths, echoey percussion and pervasive sense of menace. Fulton's askew-view of disco, funk, soul and electro is a perfect fit for DFA and the album, I've Got My Eye On You follows pretty damn soon. Here's a taste of what's to come with the b-side from 'Where's Jason's K?'.

Syclops - Monkeypuss (mp3)


Then came 'Happy House'. Premiered halfway through 2007 on Beats In Space, The Juan Maclean's massive comeback single was an instant hit. It's not hard to see why as this is an instantly likeable piece of uptempo disco-house with an infectious vocal from in-house diva, Nancy Whang that just goes on and on and on and on, in a good way, as if powered by a pilled-up Duracell bunny. I've wrote about it before, I'm sure and I'll most definitely talk about it again before the year's out, but for now this is one of the best primers for a forthcoming album I've ever heard. Here's hoping it doesn't disappoint.

The Juan Maclean - Happy House (Lee Douglas Remix) (mp3)


Lastly, but by no means leastly, here's a tribute in mp3s to the greatest punk drummer of all-time, Krautrock pioneer, Klaus Dinger who died on March 21st of heart failure. As a member of Neu!, Kraftwerk (in the early days) and La Dusseldorf, his influence is still felt hugely in modern music. R.I.P.

Kraftwerk - Ruckzuck (mp3)

Neu! - Hallogallo (mp3)

Neu! - Hero (mp3)

La Dusseldorf - La Dusseldorf (mp3)

Kraftwerk playing 'Ruckzuck' with Dinger on drums on WDR in 1970.

I'll be back with more guff about singles and that later this week.

"Then you think again..."

I sent an email to Jon from Black Country Grammar the other day which detailed my initial thoughts on the upcoming LCD Soundsystem remixes package, which went a little something like this...

"On first listen... They're all pretty great. The Windsurf remix is nice and spacey and a little proggy. More of a tripped-out cover than a remix though. Soulwax's take on 'Get Innocuous!' is surprisingly subtle and not the durr-durr-durr overload I was expecting. Gucci Soundsystem amp up the funk in 'Time To Get Away' turning it into a tough little electro-cowbell-house doozy. Major plaudits reserved for Carl Craig who turns in a crowdpleasing tech-soul re-fit of 'Sound Of Silver'. Points deducted for the slightly lazy fade-out at the end but it's probably because it could have gone on for days without it.

All in all; OMFG! DFA is teh shiznit!"

I still stand by these sentiments now I've had quite a few more listens. The fade at the end of the Carl Craig mix still bugs me as it needs at least another three minutes and I've cooled a little on the Gucci Soundsystem mix of 'Time To Get Away', but the Windsurf cover of 'Us Vs. Them' gets better everytime I hear it and I'm still surprised by Soulwax's display of subtlety while working over 'Get Innocuous!'. It'd be unethical to post one of them at this early juncture but I'm sure I'll get around to it at some point so keep an eye out.

This is essentially a really lazy Sunday afternoon post to show you, if nothing else, that I speak to people I know exactly like how I write on this thing.

Just one more thing; Shit Robot was excellent last night at Get Girl. Kill Baddies. Save Planet. banging out a tough, funky techno set that really got the crowd moving. He dropped this little blinder from about four years ago and it was most definitely the tune of the night, in my opinion...

Freeform Five - Perspex Sex (Ewan Pearson's Hi-NRG Mix)

Earlier in the night, I played a brief set to two - count 'em - punters (note: they were both friends of mine too). I couldn't really have expected any more than that as I was on at 9pm and it didn't really get rocking until midnight anyway, but I had fun all the same. Here, if you're interested, is what I played, roughly in order...

Västkustska Ryggdunkarsällskapet - Town Out Of Order
Don Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band - I'm An Indian, Too
Ministry - I Wanted To Tell Her
Shocking Pinks - SmokeScreen
Liquid Liquid - Optimo
Stevie Wonder - Do Like You
Hamilton Bohannon - Let's Start The Dance III (FK Instrumental Club Mix)
Chic - I Want Your Love (Todd Terje Edit)
Chaz Jankel - Glad To Know You
J.A.M. - Number One

That may look like a pretty great set written down, but wait 'til you hear it complimented by my shitty mixing skills. Hot like fiya!

Also, you can now join the Yer Mam! facebook group, should you be interested in such a thing.

Laters,

JMx

Five-four-three-two-one!

Okay, this is the start of a new (ir)regular feature on Yer Mam! Because I kid myself I don't have the time to write about every little thing that's shaking my musical foundations (I could. I just don't wanna), I thought I'd do something of a chart, maybe every two weeks or so, to fill you in on things that I think are worth checking out. The Yer Mam! readership being such a clued-up bunch, you're probably already way ahead of the curve on me with this stuff but if you view me as a borderline-senile old uncle, you'll at least humour me on this. Pat me on the head in the comments in as patronising a manner as you see fit...

1. Dissident Distribution

This label really came out of nowhere the other week and had the right people chattering about them online straight away. No-one seems to know much about them but the three releases that surfaced are all top-drawer stuff. Limited to 100 copies each worldwide (all gone now, full releases to follow later in the year though), these three one-sided vinyls - Binary Chaffinch's 'False Energy', Gatto Fritto's 'Clem's Bounce' and Cage & Aviary's 'Giorgio Carpenter' - are eminently playable slabs of long-form, weirdo-disco.

Superfluously in step with the Lindstrom's, Prins Thomas' and Sorcerer's of this world on first listen, upon repeat plays it's clear that the Dissident crew are on a whole 'nother tip completely. Vaguely rustic (check the birdsong on 'False Energy'), but charmingly so and clearly on speaking terms with Dr. Strange, these three tracks are certain to make many appearances in DJ sets and lists before the year's out, so I thought I'd stick my oar in first.

Personally, I think the best of the triumvirate is 'Giorgio Carpenter'. It succeeds in being what the title obviously alludes to and that's a meeting point 'tween Moroder and John. Spooky and sensual, it presses all the right buttons in the correct order and does so for a mind-enhancing eleven minutes.

As I said, very little is known about these shadowy figures but I can confirm that Binary Chaffinch is, in fact, a pseudonym for Milo from electro-metallers, Chrome Hoof. There's also talk of one-half of Cage & Aviary's former life as a member of Gay Dad, but I'm willing to take that one with a pinch of salt. Anyway, have a taste.

Binary Chaffinch - False Energy (mp3)

2. Hercules & Love Affair

Of all the great stuff coming out on DFA soon (see below), the debut 12" from Hercules & Love Affair is the one that's got me worked up the most. That's mainly because I've heard it in all its glory (next week, my opinion will most likely change). H&LA is the brainchild of NY DJ, Andy Butler and frequent listeners to Beats In Space will no doubt be quite well-acquainted with his work by now (he recently did a guest mix and a few H&LA tracks have popped up on there since early in the year).

The 12" consists of two tracks - 'Classique #2' and 'Roar' - and it will be out early next month. They're both excellent, 'Classique #2' being very Detroit-y, a little Carl Craig-y and superbly bleepy, but 'Roar' is the standout. Featuring Antony (of ...& The Johnsons fame) on vox, it's an immensely fun, hedonistic jacker. All you Antony fans would be well-advised not to come to it expecting a torch song though; his vocal consists of two repeated, treated vocal snippets made to sound as though he's on the verge of some kind of sexual awakening. It's that kind of tune.

What's mostly impressive about these two tracks though is that they sound like they've been unearthed from another age (1987 to be precise), but both sound utterly modern. Hear them for yourselves over at Hercules & Love Affair's MySpace.

3. Everything else that's coming out of DFA between now and the end of the year.

It's an exciting time for DFA records and an even more exciting time for us DFA obsessives. They've teased us for too long with all this new stuff that's been getting aired on Beats In Space for what seems like an age now, so it's time for them to give it up. And give it up they will.

For starters, next week sees the launch of Death From Abroad, a spin-off label designed to release 12"s in North America of stuff that they like that has been or will be released on other labels elsewhere in the world. The first four releases from this stable read like this; Mock & Toof - 'K-Choppers' b/w 'Brownbred', Altz - 'Max Motion' b/w 'Yello', plus Idjut Boys remixes, Gucci Soundsystem - 'Acarpenter' b/w 'Lordamercy' and 'Acarpenter (Joakim Remix)' and Bot'Ox - 'Babylon By Car' b/w 'Tragedy Symphony'. I'm not a big fan of the Gucci Soundsystem tune (it was released on Bugged Out! last year) but the Mock & Toof, Altz and Bot'Ox releases are all winners in my book.

Next up is a biggie as far as I'm concerned. Still Going is Eric Duncan from Rub 'N' Tug and Olivier Spencer from Manthraxx and their DFA released 12", 'Still Going Theme' b/w 'On And On' is pure f'in bliss. Two big old piano house monsters sure to slay any discerning dancefloor. That should be all you need to know really. Oh, that one's out on September 18th.

After that, you've got LCD releasing 'Someone Great' as a single with quite possibly THE greatest remix package in the history of music. Soulwax taking on 'Get Innocuous!'? Check. Sorcerer adding a dash of coastal charm to 'Us Vs. Them'? Check. The aforementioned Gucci Soundsystem taking 'Time To Get Away' on an amyl-stained electro-house bender? Check. CARL FUCKIN' CRAIG sprinkling some techno angel dust on 'Sound Of Silver'? Fuckin' CHECK!!! I thought the 'All My Friends' release was hard to top but, barring any major phoning-it-in, this is sure to be the one that'll make you all cream.

Oh, and somewhere along the line there'll be the Shocking Pinks album, 45:33 finally getting a proper CD release with three b-sides (don't get too excited, it's just 'Hippie Priest Bum-Out', 'Freak Out/Starry Eyes' and the Onastic Dub of 'North American Scum', all of which have seen the light of day this year already), Holy Ghost!'s long-awaited debut single, 'Hold On' and - fingers crossed - new 12"s from Shit Robot, The Juan Maclean and that Eric Broucek solo thing that James Murphy let slip about at the LCD aftershow in Manchester back in March (clang!). It's a good time to be alive, ladies and gentlemen.

Shocking Pinks - Smokescreen (mp3)

4. Kasso - Key West (Jellybean Benitez Edit)

Old as the hills but still better than most things around right now. Jellybean is God.

Kasso - Key West (Jellybean Benitez Edit) (mp3)

5. Blockhead - Uncle Tony's Coloring Book (Ninja Tune)

Currently getting a lot of play round our gaff is the new album from Blockhead (aka Tony Smith. I can see why he changed his name). He's one of those people whose work I've always been aware of - mainly through his long-standing association with Aesop Rock - but I've never really investigated until recently. I won't try to over-analyse it because it just won't stand up to it. It's just a really fun, summery, light record of instrumental hip-hop that deserves more attention than it's likely to get. So give it some.

Blockhead - The Strain (mp3)

This was going to be a top ten but I kind of wore myself out on the DFA section and I'm hella tired anyway. Might throw in some more tomorrow. Then again, I might not.

In other news: You can listen to me bore the pants off you about new Swedish balearic pop duo, Boat Club on this week's Blog Fresh Radio, should you harbour the desire to listen to a dour, gruff-voiced Manc wax lyrical about such things.

Your fingers in the cookie jar

Just a couple of things to go over tonight really, so I won't keep you long.

First up, apologies for not updating much lately. That's something that I don't say a lot so feel privileged. I guess there hasn't been much I've heard lately that's made me think, "I've got to write something about this right now". Pretty much all the new stuff that I've heard lately has brought forth a resigned "meh". Except for that Stooges album but that was for all the wrong reasons. Christ, it's bad! How the hell did they manage to shit on such a fine legacy from such a huge height in one fell swoop? It's been on the cards for best part of a couple of decades but Iggy has now, officially, lost it completely.

Also, as some of you will know, I've got a few other irons in the fire as of late, with my new blog and writing bits and bobs for other people, yada yada yada. My dog ate it. I can't do P.E. today because I've forgot my kit. It's not you, it's me.

Anyway, I'd like to take some time to revisit an old obsession, one that will be very familiar to regular readers...

Yep, it's been a while since I've had an excuse to write about Robyn on these pages, but with the pending UK release of her eponymous album (originally released just about everywhere else in 2005), complete with some new-ish bells and whistles, I thought it might have been time to re-appraise THE best pop album of the 21st century thus far.

First of all, what's different? Well, Robyn's seen fit to inject new life into the album by mucking about with the sequencing, re-recording a few tracks and throwing in some tracks that weren't on the original, but won't be new to hardened Robyn obsessives. So we get the inclusion of the superb, 'With Every Heartbeat' and her cover of Teddybears STHLM's 'Cobrastyle', new, digitised versions of 'Bum Like You' and 'Robotboy' and 'Konichiwa Bitches' coming charging like a bull out the gate as the first track proper.

The changes don't take any of the shine of the album, but they're not always totally successful. For instance, 'Cobrastyle', as fun as it is to hear Robyn spitting patois, feels a little incongruous and a little too much like a b-side (which it was originally anyway). The inclusion of 'With Every Heartbeat' is welcome though, especially coming as it does hard on the heels of the superlative, 'Be Mine!'. By the end of 'With Every Heartbeat' you feel like you've really been put through it. I know it's just pop music, but those two songs, one after the other is pretty much as heartbreaking as it gets.

On the newly beat-driven versions of 'Bum Like You' and 'Robotboy', I agree with Perpetua. 'Robotboy' is actually improved by its digital makeover but 'Bum Like You' loses a little in transition. Sure, you could probably slip it into a DJ set now, but the original was a masterclass in stripped-down pop balladry, all vulnerable/tough and witty with it. The new mix seems a little too glossy in comparison.

Also, my main gripe is that 'Konichiwa Bitches' is not as good an opener as 'Who's That Girl?'. Both are brilliant statements of intent, but 'Who's That Girl?' better sums up the album's main themes of contradiction, desperation and strength of will in a way that 'Konichiwa Bitches' just doesn't. That song is great, don't get me wrong, but it feels a touch clownish when compared to the rest of the assembled tracks here. It's basically Robyn's attempt at writing an outrageously braggadocious hip-hop track. She nails it, no doubt, but it feels a little too much like a pastiche next to the stark honesty and candour found elsewhere.

Maybe I'm over-analysing things (someone has to) and, essentially, it's still the same album I fell in love with eighteen months ago, but the maxim of if it ain't broke, don't fix it, most definitely rings true with this one.

Compare and contrast:- Robyn - Bum Like You (original) (mp3)
Robyn - Bum Like You (new version) (mp3)

In other news...

OMG! New DFA radio mixes! Go git 'em!

Perpetua again, the bastard has only gone and nailed everything that I was thinking about LCD Soundsystem's 'Someone Great' before I had a chance to. Swine! Although, isn't the lyric, "There shouldn't be this reign of silence"? That's what I hear anyway.

Not music-related, but I've been really getting into online comic strip Achewood lately. So should you. Start from the beginning and work your way forward though or you won't have a clue what's going on.

Thassitfernow,

JMx