Steve's Best of 2012

Sorry to be a little late off the mark!

2012 was a pretty decent year in electronic music wasn't it? In it, we saw a modern batch of tech house gain a steady foothold - names like Jamie Jones, Maya Jane Coles, Seth Troxler and Maceo Plex rang out often and all over the world.

But what were the highlights? Below is a wee little list of my picks of the year.

(read more...)

Nils Noa & Simon Baker

I visited Oslo on the weekend. What a beautiful city!
While I was there, I had a pretty epic night in which I visited Norway's 'top' club The Villa (as chosen by DJ Mag in '09) and saw Norway's baby-faced house meister Nils Noa play.

(read more...)

Move D, Tale Of Us & Metro Area

Have you wrapped your head around the fact that it will be next year in just over 7 weeks? And can you believe that it is nearly Christmas? I bet you haven't even thought about what gifts you will be getting for your loved ones.

I have. Here's what I came up with:

(read more...)

Videodrome 47: WhoMadeWho & Seekae

When was the last time we did a video post?
One year, one month and approximately one week ago. Been waaaay too long if you ask me.

In order to remedy this situation, here are two fantastic videos that have slid into my periphery over the last few weeks.

(read more...)

Andrés, Koze & MAM: Welcome Back

Hello! It's been a little while since my last post. And by "little" while, I actually mean "long" while. I'd like to welcome myself back into the fold.
It has been a rather productive month and a bit for me musically though, and I definitely have heaps to share.

(read more...)

Mixtapes by Young Magic, Radge & Chris Honnery

So - my Summer holiday has almost arrived - and that can only mean one thing. A furious few days of ramming as much music onto my various devices as possible before I jet off.

I've already discovered quite a few interesting things on my little music hunt. Of particular note are a bunch of mix tapes that have been doing the rounds.. And since it has been such a long time since we did a mixtape feature on Blouse, I thought I sort that out and share a few of them:

(read more...)

Double Hill, Sleep D & BB & Q Band

"Balmy" Helsinki seems to have gotten me comfortably settled in this deep thing for the past week or so. Great stuff. Organic, warm, instrument filled electronica gets the girls these days. That's what they say anyway.

(read more...)

Telonius & Chemise

We seem to have pitched a tent in some pretty dark areas of late. Hope you don't mind if we get a bit happier for a sec? It is Monday after all.

(read more...)

Eternal Mind

Apologies for the lack of hot blogg action around these parts recently.. Time sure is in short supply these days.

French fella, Chateau Flight member and all right nice guy I:Cube has deservedly been getting a large piece of buzz lately, following the release of his latest opus Lucifer En Discotheque.

(read more...)

Odeiyolaoo Mambo

Mixtape blues. Fuck.

Finding suitable tracks, putting them into order and then mixing them is proving to be an extremely frustrating process. Who would have thought?

Introduction songs, ending songs, build up songs, banging songs... GAH.

The single positive that I can take out of this whole experience is that I have managed to reconnect with the world of disco.
After a period of intermittent-at-best disco following, it was nice to see that things have been bubbling away nicely while I have been gone.

(read more...)

Havah Nagilah (A Night With Future Classic)

Blouse: "Attempting valiantly to get back on the horse in 2012." 

Whilst we track down some time, please enjoy a couple of superb tracks which are inspired by the upcoming (and hugely exciting) Future Classic night at the Keystone Festival Bar. 

This year sees two masters - in the form of Prins Thomas and DJ Koze - gracing the wheels of steel.

(read more...)

Justice: Audio, Video, Disco

That wasn't so bad, was it?

I was dreading Justice's sophomore album release. All those remixes, all that hype. A Grammy.

(read more...)

Zephyr

Greetings from rainy Struggle town! Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

I shared Strand's classic '96 space/techno odyssey a few days ago on the Blouse Facebook page, but after some deliberation, I realised that it was so good that it deserved another mention. This time on the site proper. So here it is..
The playful, pulsing, spage age/Blade Runner bassline in this track is remarkable, but it would have to be the classy, effervescent strings that really take this shizen to the next level. A gem in the headphones, or on the dfloor methinks:

(read more...)

Look At You

Still working on the redesign.. What do you think so far? Hopefully it's OK - any comments are more than welcome!

So - some quick redesign disco for the coast into the weekend.. A Facebook post containing the words  "oh.my.god." alerted me to the vintage funk of Jacques Renault's "Look At You".
Some seriously rich, hazy, yet pleasingly upbeat sounds on this George McCrae sampling number. Perfect segue into the weekend methinks..

Jacques Renault - Look At You

This was lifted from Renault's curiously named '09 EP "Favicon".. Grab it now.

Nightflight to Trinidad

Photo: © David Tribby

am feeling pretty damned ill today, so ill try to keep this short.. am trying to pep myself up as well, so i'll also try and keep it festive.

sometimes i feel like bottin's style of disco errs a little on the heavy-handed house side of things.. at other times i feel like it is just perfect. after listening to "bottin's coup d'etat" mix of his track "discocracy", my bottin-o-meter is definitely leaning more toward the "just perfect" side.

nothing too subtle or challenging here, just a whole bunch of fun with great driving synths and a "whoa-oa" laden chorus that will get under your skin.

(read more...)

Cabin Party

 wow this post is going to be a good'un.. absolutely fit for a sunday of recovery.
"snooze 4 love" is a recent todd terje number, lifted from his "ragysh" release from earlier this year.. the title track had me hooked initially, but the playful synths and happy/serious vibe of "snooze 4 love" make it my new favourite.. seriously love the multi-dimensional nature of this track. so much good stuff going on:

(read more...)

Fail Forever

down to a post a week.. the ol' time cupboards are evidently looking a little bare. apologies.

being so heavily snowed under with work has really seen my musical selections enter much deeper waters of late..
one release that i have been particularly getting in to during this deep transition has been 6th borough project's (aka the revenge/aka craig smith) album "one night in the borough". its plentiful samples and slow groove really bring artists like the avalanches and dj shadow to mind.. its deep, hypnotic disco and stripped down funk is impossible to fault.

(read more...)

Day

how do you feel today? head hurting a bit? maybe went a bit hard last night? hmmm.. me too.

thats why it is an absolutely incredible idea to introduce this 'day mix' by los angeles and future classic residents poolside music into your life. unbelievably smooth, soulful house, hip hop and disco to ease you back into existence. put this on and curl up. now.

(read more...)

On The Fringe

sorry for the blog silence over the past few days.. a trip to barcelona, numerous job interviews and a few other little jobs didnt make for a very productive blogger.
im heading to my first scandinavian midsummer today, but i felt the urge to share some music before i left..

floating points seems to have been keeping himself busy recently with a couple of quality vinyl releases and a collaboration ep with vocalist fatima. good news!
this track has really caught my ear of late.. it is entitled 'marilyn' and is lifted from his 'faruxz/marilyn' vinyl from earlier this month.
love the future-soul/funk vibe of it - the spacious synths that make way for the pounding, quirky, almost siriusmo-like organ. great track:

Floating Points - Marilyn

'faruxz/marilyn' will be released in a weeks time on the 27th of june.. preorder it here.
investigate the slew of other new floating points releases here.

while we are on the topic of funky, soulful beats, here is a little slice from in flagranti's latest album 'worse for wear'.. i think the album as a whole is a step in a much more... accessible direction for the group, with a slightly more obvious disco sound joining the irresistible quirk and fun that we know them for.
'on the fringe' itself is a supremely blissed out track with synths that are every bit as spacious as the floating points number.. add this to its relentlessly smooth bassline, tinkling pianos and extra ambient synths and you have your self one hell of a hammock soundtrack. get involved:

In Flagranti - On The Fringe

if you liked that, then give 'worse for wear' a go right here.. you'll like it i promise.

hyvää juhannusta!!

Ragysh

man.. ive really been feeling some bad ju-ju over the past 24 hours or so. plenty of crappy and annoying things happening. think ill definitely try to ride it out with some quality disco.

first up is "ragysh" from todd terje. lifted from the "ragysh ep" (released in april), this track is typical of the high quality seen in terje's rare original productions.. solid, driving percussion, heavy electronic groove and some cosmic synths later on in the mix. top shelf disco - get involved:

Todd Terje - Ragysh

grab todd terje's "ragysh ep" here.

while we are on the topic of top shelf disco, i have to just quickly say how excited i am to have finally gotten a hold of space ranger's debut album "what about the magnetic fields?". i'm nearly a month late to the party, but that doesn't make me any less excited.
the first single from the album will be "plastic romance". it is a slow-burning, wistful kind of track with a goodly measure of funk and slap bass.
with their mix of this track, motor city drum ensemble take it in a whole new direction.. not happy with just beefing up the drums, they also removed much of space ranger's understated funk and added their own to-the-point synths. but the elements of this mix that i really loved were the strings and keys that slowly enter at around the four minute mark. have a listen:

Space Ranger - Plastic Romance (Motor City Drum Ensemble Vocal Mix)

grab your copy of "plastic romance" here. and if you haven't given "what about the magnetic fields?" a listen, you can pick it up here.