Cyclic Defrost Magazine |  |
| Diplo - Decent Work For Decent Pay: Collected Works Volume 1 (Big Dada/Inertia) Posted: 28 Apr 2009 04:18 AM PDT
Most of us are by now well aware of Diplo, his original productions, his remix work, his involvement with his label Mad Decent, and considered by some as a trend setter devastating dancefloors the world over. Epistemology Suite EP was his debut release, showcasing more DJ Shadow-esque beatscapes, which has become a timeless classic of sampledelia, followed shortly after in 2004 by his debut album Florida. Florida showed a broader palette of influences, often encompasing a more electroid sound, machine rhythms beyond their time. This is a collection of some of his remix work, remixes of his own tracks, and tracks by Daft Punk (which only made it on the promo due to licensing problems), MIA, Spank Rock, Kano, Bloc Party, CSS, Bonde Do Role, Samim, Hot Chip, Black Lips, Claude Vonstroke and Peter Bjorn & John. He has been known to veer into the ‘Baltimore’ style of dance music, reinventing early 90’s rave rolling drum breaks, but this is not his best work. Its when he steps away from the formula that Diplo excels, dragging what would be straight up rock onto the dancefloor with his electro touch. The stand out tracks on the compilation would have to be his remixes of MIA, keeping the ingenious gun rhythm intact, Kano, underpinning his flow with amazing precision, CSS, Black Lips, maintaining the guitar hook from the original, as well as his own Newsflash featuring the great voice of Sandra Melody. Its good to see the inclusion of Smash A Kangaroo, which was made during his visit to Australia, and indigenous communities, which remixes one of the songs he composed with some very talented indigenous boys. While I tend to grimace when I hear that ‘Baltimore’ sound, the rest of the tunes here are alot of fun. Wayne Stronell |
| Lukid – Foma (Werk Discs/Shogun) Posted: 28 Apr 2009 04:09 AM PDT Announcing himself to the world, Luke Blair released his debut album Onandon in 2007 to much critical acclaim, with his particular style of hip hop rhythms encrusted with static, dirt and lingering melodies. Having heard some of Lukid's more recent mixtapes, I was fearful he was venturing too far into 'wonky' territory, which has its innovators, but now, many copyists. Teamed with Werk Discs I was hoping for a more electronic and dub tinged journey, and that's about right on the money. What we have here is an interesting hybrib of many differing styles of bass music, hip hop, dub, wonky, dubstep, Boards Of Canada style electronica and Autechre style rhythm mutations. This album is full of contrast, light and dark, loud and soft, sweet and bitter, dirt and smooth… On the whole a dark but exuberant ride, mesmerizing with a rare ability to draw you in, this could be the soundtrack to a movie you've wanted to see forever. Don't right this off as part of the 'new wave' of hip hop producers like Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke, Samiyam amongst others, while these artists have their strengths, and excel at what they do, Foma has a more timeless quality, its an album you'll be able to revisit often, and return to in years to come, for Lukid's sound to wash over you once again. Wayne Stronell |
| Various Artists – Dirty French Psychedelics (Dirty/Discograph) Posted: 28 Apr 2009 03:55 AM PDT
Clovis Goux and Guillaume Sorge have been more than busy compiling some pretty impressive selections of rare and underrated music since 2003 with their first Dirty Diamonds compilation. This compilation is the latest for the duo, otherwise known as Dirty Sound System, which follows up from the Dirty Edits compilation, which assembled a selection of tracks culled from the very limited 12" series of re-edits, lusted after by many an eclectic club DJ. I'm initially confronted by the wonderful artwork, part classic 70's psychedelic art, part Salvador Dali. Its obvious Clovis and Guillaume think about the presentation of these compilations excessively, from the luscious artwork, the common musical thread weaving through the compilation, to the sequencing, everything seems to flow. The French have never really been recognized for releasing innovative music, which I think is undeserved, and its compilations such as this that shine a bright light on a musical tapestry full of richness. I think it has been more the case that some parts of the world just have not been exposed to some great pop psychedelics from France. Some would argue that some songs contained here are not psychedelic, but its more the mood these tracks evoke, not a tidy genre to slot them into. Brigitte Fontaine psychedelic? Listen more closely to Il Pleut, and you might agree, and if you listen through her back catalogue you will be further surprised. For me there are plenty of unknowns, which is always a good thing in my book, and some absolute classics by Dashiell Hedayat, Nino Ferrer, Jeanne-Marie Sens, Alain Kane, Francois de Roubaix, and Karl Heinz Schaefer. Not a Serge Gainsbourg track in site, although, Bernard Lavilliers fills his shoes nicely, Jean Jacques Dexter combines crazy synthesizers with strings gloriously, Cheval Fou serve up tribal ethereal folk, while Ilous Et Decuyper share a ghostly melody with their haunting song Berceuse. This compilation is full to the hilt with gems, and is a great jumping off point to explore this particular era of French music. Ignore at your own risk. Wayne Stronell |
| “Spectrum Deadly” - Extended Playlist 270409 - www.2ser.com 107.3FM Posted: 28 Apr 2009 03:48 AM PDT Harking back to a number of late 90s numbers to kick off this week's proceedings, we then fast forward to now Now NOW to number more than a few brand newbies and even some still unreleased material from Tokyobourne's If? Records with the latest from Alone Together and Alkan. Find your downloads at http://if-records.weebly.com/buy-online.html Make sure you head down to Headroom at the Civic Underground in Sydney on Friday 8 May: ————————- Can - Spoon (Sonic Youth Mix) Prefuse 73 - DEC. Machine Funk All ERA’s Fridge - Zed Ex Ay-Ti-Wan Quarks - Insicherheit Tim Exile - Family Galaxy Felix Kubin - The Rhythm Modulator (cont’d) Suburban Dark - No Exit Alone Together - Macintosh Is Out Of My Life Tiki Taane - Our Favourite Target Alkan - Bosphorus Breathing Tokyo Black Star - Sepiaphone The Juan Maclean - One Day (The Emperor Machine Remix) The Emergency - Prisoner Of Love afxjim - One Hand Feeds The Oven Do you like our playlists? |
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