Have been busy swanning around London. Blogging time has been negligible.
Seeing as though it is Friday and YES, it is party time (and yes we haven't posted for a couple of weeks), here are a few ticklers that have been working over time in our 'phones lately.
Real posts following soon. Trust me.
One surprising tip off that I recently received involved a certain 90's heavyweight named Sasha. His was definitely not the first name that sprang to mind when thinking of modern, cutting-edge electronica. I was told however to shake off this prejudice, and give him a go. I'm glad I did.
Having given his tunes a solid go-around, I have to say that he could be one of the few of the prog/trance DJs of that era whose music still genuinely stands up a decade after its release.
Some of the ideas may have dated a little, but overall his production is top shelf.. Solid percussion, sweaty melodies and nifty little atmospheric touches are commonalities in Sasha's material, and a welcome sense of low key expansiveness and restraint are particularly present in his more recent work.
I think the high point of my recent travails came when I first heard 'Cloud Cuckoo' off 02's Airdrawndagger.
Easily the most refined and atmospheric piece on the album, this track is actually addictive. It's hard to pin one genre - or even one definitive mood onto this song.. It shifts between industrial murkiness to light, skittering prog and on into sunny melody with ease. One thing that I can definitely pin down is that this track is pretty damned awesome. Check it out:
Do some Sasha digging here. Strongly recommend checking out his remix for
Brit-pop rockers Kasabian as well as his album Airdrawndagger.
Maya Jane Coles recently released a DJ Kicks mix. Did you hear it?
It was a particularly good mix, one that I definitely enjoyed. It certainly followed similar deep house cues as Visionquest's recent Fabric mix but with a slightly druggier vibe.
Loads of quality tunes on here, but one stand out was Larse's 'Karoo'. The light synths feel quite refreshing in the context of this mix - but as a stand-alone track, the bass and drums have more than enough drive to see it fill a floor:
Larse - Karoo
In case you haven't heard Coles' mix, listen here. Get involved with more Larse here.
Kater Holzig's relatively new label Katermukke, is fast becoming one of my most frequented. While it's branding and identity may need a shake up design-wise, it represents the club's fantastic deep/tech house music policy supremely.
One of my favourite releases (so far) comes from some-time resident and all round Berlin scenester Nico Stojan. His Cheriemoya EP was the fifth release the label put out and boy is it bangin'! Heavy bass, crisp high hats and twanging middle eastern guitars drive this thing squarely onto the d-floor:
Nico Stojan - Cheriemoya
Pick up Stojan's Cheriemoya EP here. If you are in Berlin, toddle down to Kater Holzig and you might just get to see the guy play in person. You will make this guy all red and jealous.
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