bit friday

having the office to myself today has given me a fine excuse to blast bangor after bangor at maximum volume..

i spoke very briefly about and.id's unique jazz techno a while back and it has made quite a big comeback in my headphones over the past few days. there is something about it that is just so damned cool and bouncy.. which makes it perfect friday fodder.

And.Id - Erotica mediafire link

'erotica' is off and.id's latest release, 'i will be there'. chances are you will have heard the excellent title track, but in case you havent, you can grab it there.

here is more jazz infused techno - this time coming courtesy of sascha dive and samuel davis. i came across it on matthew dear's '08 body language mix recently and when its mighty bassline drops out of nowhere, i was nearly left gasping.. if you have decent headphones or speakers, please put this on immediately.

Sascha Dive - Street Life (Samuel Davis Dark Groove Remix) mediafire link

grab matthew dear's body language mix here.

enjoy your sunny weekend melburnians.. i think we are starting to turn the corner

see ya bye

hola from south america! today im doing it in style and typing a post from an internet cafe.. oh la la.

i dont really know if its the backpacker lifestyle, the buenos aires nightlife or the two combined, but i have never partied this hard in my life. i think its pretty much standard practice around here to walk out of a club at around 7am.. we havent really been in any state to "check out the sights".. but i hope that will change soon.

anyway, with all these late nights/early mornings and attempts to sleep in swelteringly humid conditions, my music choice has been somewhat chilled.. this track by tensnake is one of the sexiest chilled songs i have heard in a long time.. it is an early-morning/just-woke-up bed burner that builds slowly slowly and ends with the most subdued, sophisticated fireworks ive heard in a while.

Tensnake - Congolal

its a shame that i didnt get to fire off a post before i left australia.. being disorganised is apparently something that im good at.

my last weekend in sydney was pretty choccers with amazing music..
friday night was the sydney festival future classic night which featured personal favourites aeroplane and trevor jackson.. i dont particularly feel the two sets gelled, but both were fun in their own way. trev jackson brought some tough, slinky tech house while aeroplane packed their usual bunch of party starting disco and filter house.. so much fun

Low Motion Disco - Love Love Love (Aeroplane Remix)

saturday night saw onthefly and deep impressions joining forces to bring dfa stalwart shit robot to goodgod.. jimi polar started proceedings for me incredibly with a motley collection of disco, tech-house, and indie dance.. i dont claim to know everything about music, but the fact that i knew hardly any of these amazing songs really surprised me.
shit robot came on a little later after much jimi polar buttering, and i have to say that his swirling, sometime tickling/sometime stabbing tech-disco went down a treat.. he didnt look at all like i thought he would, but by this stage i had wandered a little too far down the "farewell sydney - let celebrate!" path to care.. good god may be a little smelly but the night was again, so much fun..

Dondolo - Dragon (Shit Robot Remix)

so anyway, i wont be back for a few weeks.. have fun without me.. ill try and have fun without you

simply shit

Readers, before you read on, visit Shit Robot's Myspace to look at his photos and photo comments (here) and then you will be in a jolly mood when you read my review.

Is it possible for Shit Robot to live up to his name and actually create a shit piece of electronic music yet? I think not. Simple Things, his latest track on DFA, is a prime example. The man can do no wrong.

This infectious late-night burner comes straight from a neon-lit Sunset Boulevard, circa 1990. As the cruising 90s beat kicks in and the young Barry White-esque vocals rise from the doldrums, this track makes me close my eyes, sway my shoulders and gently groove my behind. The classic piano chords are just enough and the song exudes élan rather than bangin' it from the rooftops. Hedonistic and utterly cool, Simple Things oozes more mojo than an episode of Miami Vice.

Shit Robot - Simple Things

The only downfall of having a near impeccable track is the tough task its remixers face. In this case, Serge Santiago and Todd Terje both struggled to add anything whilst still retaining the essence of a song that exudes flash 90s cool without even trying.

In Santiago’s case, he’s added too many dynamics. Clanging cymbals, frequent build ups and some blips here and there make the track dance floor friendly but take away from the simplicity and panache of Shit Robot’s original. It’s as though he has struggled with the track’s length as well, showing moments of excitement but lacking cohesion overall. Similarly, Terje’s remix turns up the banging beat and 90s pianos and has glimpses of intensity but otherwise lacks oomph and flattens out a track that had a lot of natural charisma. Both the remixes and the original will suit the club but there’s only one you’d want to pump with a Cadillac full of California girls and a late night of mojhitos ahead of you.

Shit Robot - Simple Things (Serge Santiago Remix)

Shit Robot - Simple Things (Todd Terje Remix)


See this on Pulse Radio. And for all new music as it is added to Blouse as well as pointless shit about shit, get in the Tweetspace bro.

nearly there

this sounds really really sad and lame, but this whole month of sobriety has made weekends seem insignificant. thats right. no alcohol and no clubs = nothing to look forward to in steve's sad life. well that actually isnt true.. this weekend is my last weekend off. i can look forward to getting back down to business next weekend. thats a nice thought..

i wanted to celebrate that thought with the new shit robot single 'simple things' which was officially released with a terje remix sometime last week, but apparently we're not allowed to post that yet.. so enjoy instead this rolling wave of a track from 07. amazingly amped and distorted disco

Shit Robot - Chasm

i always expect such diversity and flexibility from dfa artists, but shit robot have really outdone themselves.. while 'chasm' is a tough dancefloor filler, 'simple things' feels like it is being beamed directly into your ears from frankie knuckles' studio in '87. pick it up here

this mock & toof track from late last year is also high up on my 'most enjoyed' list at the moment..
love the hot chip-style road they went down with it.. a far cry from the rest of their superb tech-disco catalogue..

Mock & Toof - Underwater

that boppy bass is really irresistible.. pairing it with the pianos at the end was an absolute stroke of genius. i hope you dont skip through it too much - the way it builds is fabbo. i think it will get you through tomorrow.

bonus psychedelic-disco from mock & toof:

Mock & Toof - Brown Bred

someone was telling me the other day that 90s pianos are starting to wear a bit thin.. what do you think? i think im still enjoying them