Monday

Eye On You

I must admit, im catching on to this a bit late in the day. Joy Orbison is the 22 year old nephew of Ray Keith and his Hyph Mngo/Wet Look ep is one of the most talked about releases of the year. I never really got Dub Step, it was either too chin strokish or too aggresive for my liking but this is just right. Blisfull synths, haunting vocals and lovely builds. The ep dropped on Hot Flush last week and I would seriously recommend picking it up.

Also, heres a mix that was posted on Lower End Spasm back in June, as I said, really late getting on this one

Pearson Sound - Indelible
Karizma - Drumz Nightmare
Nu-Birth - Anytime
Tonya Renee - About You
Altered Natives -Rass Out
Joy Orbison - Smother
Efdemin - Acid Bells Martyn Remix
Shed - Selection One
Ultramarine - Hooter Carl Craig Remix-Joy Orbison Edit
Joy Orbison - Tentative Bidding
Martyn - Hear Me
Joy Orbison - J. Doe
Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo
Judging from the amount of as yet unreleased material on this mix and others on mixes from the likes of Untold, we can expect to be hearing a lot more from Joy Orbison in the future.

Sunday

These Days

I discovered this track only recently when I flipped over Joy Division's "Love will tear us apart" single. "These Days" is a tune that just blew me away. How they did not think think was worthy to appear on "Unknown Pleasures" bewilders me. It shows how Joy Division were pioneers of electronic/indie music but it show even more what a genius their producer Martin Hannett was. Joy Division and Hannett were a dream combination in a pre pro tools era I find the way Hannett used Joy Division like his own instruments amazing. Check out "These Days" below.

These Days - Joy Division

Thursday

Seeing Stars


My favourite Dj bar none, Dj Godfather. I had a conversation not too long ago with someone about his skills as a dj. We talked about how, by comparisson, he wouldnt rate with the top turntabalists in the world, but, the top turntabalists in the world probably couldnt do what he does. Not only does he have all the tricks in his bag, he uses them in a way that its not showing off but increasing the tempo of the music he is playing and generally making any club he plays in go right off.

His Twilight 76 label, and later Databass, took the sound synonomous with Detroit mix tapes and pushed it onto a global audience. The label rosters read like a who's who of the scene with additions from the likes of Sekter 17, Keith Tucker, Dj Dijital on the electro side and Dj Nasty, Dj Slugo, Dj Deeon and Dj Omega on the ghetto tip. He is a Dj held in the highest regard with everyone from Dave Clarke to Daft Punk being a fan and his skils have taken him around the world many times. Iv seen him play in Dublin 5 times and hes the only dj that iv seen that i went to the gig completly sober and danced my ass off.
I dont think this mix represents fully what you could expect by going to see him in a club atmosphere but the tempo is frantic, the mixing is fast and theres plenty of mention of tricks, hoes and bitches.




Tuesday

Azzurro



Booty Bass is something that I try to like. I love Ghetto Tech and Electro so by association I should like it but Im often left unimpressed by what I hear. I hate sratching in records, all well and good seeing a DJ cut it up live but making it a mainstay in your productions is something I dont argree with, theres also the cheesy raps, the weak productions and just the sheer amount of awful tracks out there that makes it hard for me, personally, to find something that I could listen to more than twice before I bin it,or, play it out. I heard this track in the excellent Egyptrixx mixtape from last year and it took me downloading 3 albums,each with a different version of it to find it. Well worth it though.
I suppose its a genre thats defined by tracks from the likes of 2Live Crew, Magic Mike and Sir Mix a Lot so when you look at it in that light its easy to see it for what it is. Fun music, made by guys about riding girls and all with a healthy splashing of sub bass and 808 Drums. Ingredients which, if used in the wrong way, can create something truly awful.
To finish, here is a selection from Discobelle from 08 thats one of the better mixes iv come across.


Sunday

The Grey Album

On the eve of The Beatles releasing their entire back catalogue remastered and ready for its first digital release I've decided to write today's blog about the album that got me into The Beatles. Created in 2004 when Jay-Z released his so called curtain call
The Black album DJ Danger Mouse took it upon himself to take Jay-Zs vocals and and chop up The Beatles White album to create one of the best mash ups ever created the Grey album. Check it out below!

DJ Danger Mouse - The Grey Album

Thursday

C20

Si Begg is giving his latest ep away for free. The man himself says, "Major labels and the bodies that represent them, such as the BPI in the UK and the RIAA in the USA would have us believe that sharing music is destroying music and the musicians that create it. We contend that the truth is, this cartel of major record companies, distributors and publishers have been systematically fucking musicians and the people that love and buy music for about 50 years. Creating, amongst other things, huge profits for shareholders, a rigorous, brutally industrialised method of music production, Hannah Montana and an inherently average, uninspiring, mainstream music scene. This traditional industry model is so close to death that we dare not entertain it here. Instead we leave it up to you to help determine how far this E.P. travels".

Its a novel idea and also one that could be used by other artists going forward. Radiohead famously had us pay what we felt appropriate for their last album and more and more musicians are looking for ways outside of the norm to get their music to us.

Remixes for this ep will come from Jimmy Edgar, David E Sugar and SCB but you can pick up the 4 original tracks in WAV format here, and, if you want you can pick up the special edition "hand-made in hackney" boxset of the release here.

Wednesday

Sun Swept



The Modeselektor mix that was on 2FM at the weekend. Some really good stuff in here.