Romantic evening planned? Hoping to woo the lady/man of your dreams? Or are you simply looking to spend an evening thrapping your
bonk-partner into sexytime oblivion? If you've answered "yes" to any of
these questions, you should consider listening to...
Incarnations - Let Love Find You Darondo - Sure Know How to Love Me Dwilt Sharpp feat. Lorett Fleur - I Need You Close Sylvia - Sweet Stuff Plantlife - What A World (Babygirl) Mr Day - If I Can Love You US Aries - Are You Ready to Come? (With Me) Pt 1 Al Green - I'm Glad You're Mine Minnie Riperton - Baby, This Love I Have Freddie Cruger feat. Linn - Pretty Little Thing D'Influence - Waiting (Young Soul Mix) DJ Cam - Summermadness Scheckter - Some Kind of Moanin' Uno - Diploma Häzel + Slakah the Beatchild - This Kero One The Producer - Space Cadets Patrice Rushen - Remind Me Dexter Wansel - The Sweetest Pain Raphael Saadiq - Skyy, Can You Feel Me Grover Washington Jr & Bill Withers - Just The Two Of Us
Happy new year!* I hope you had a lovely festive break with your families and loved ones - now it's time to work off the turkey (or continue to wallow in year-round cheese-induced heartburn misery - some of us belief this shit is for life, not just for christmas)...
There's not too much on the tear-your-face-off front this month and much of the first half of the show is given over to funk, hip-hop, disco and re-edits. We also have a Record Of The Month from The Allergies in the form of "Seven Days" - more infectious than norovirus but certainly far more pleasant - check the Heartbreaker EP preview out here (it's chock-full of winners).
I'm also bowled over by that Yannah Valdevit record (Zed Bias on co-production). Then again I always had a soft spot for Sweet Female Attitude too, so maybe i'm just a sucker for a girly voice over a shuffling garage beat. There's also some arms-in-the-air classic dance rejigging going on from the ever reliable Groove Motion (you can't miss it).
My sister Laura was tuned in and assured me it's "good music to do coursework to", so if you're in the same study/revision-mire as her at the moment, get stuck in and: good luck to you!
This show is dedicated to Fontella Bass (July 3, 1940 – December 26, 2012) - RIP.
Tracklist:
Tensei - Space Colony
Amin PaYnE feat. Roughsoul - Cosmic Planets
Plantlife - Your Love
Oddisee feat. Oliver Daysoul - That Real
Ab-Soul - Bohemian Grove
George Jackson - You Can't Make It No Better (ScratchAndSniff Re-Rub)
Hot 8 Brass Band - Ghost Town
Beck - Where It's At
Jim Ford - I'm Gonna Make Her Love Me
Bo Diddley - Hit Or Miss
James Brown - The Boss (Manik's Jo-Boogie Re-Edit)
Tommy McCook - KT88
Lyn Collins - Mr Big Stuff
David Bowie - Golden Years (The Reflex Stems Re-Vision)
Capitan Futuro - Freak The Groove
Quantic & Alice Russell with the Combo Barbaro - Magdalena (Behling & Simpson Remix)
Dubble D & Rakim - Soul Squelch (GW Mash)
The Allergies - Seven Days
Thomass Jackson - First Party Shoes
Amin PaYnE - Infinite Horizon
Stereo 77 - Buscando El Ritmo
St Germain - Rose Rough (Leftside Wobble Hustle & Bump Edit)
Tatham, Mensah, Lord & Ranks - Mr Pickles
Groove Motion - Come On In (Where Dub Lives)
Karma Kid - Lust Love
Yannah Valdevit - Pick Flowers
Artful Dodger ft. Lifford Shillingford - Please Don't Turn Me On (Disclosure Remix)
DYP & Rekab - Gunman
The Cinematic Orchestra feat. Fontella Bass - All That You Give
* The eagle-eyed/OCD-afflicted among you will have probably noticed the
lack of a December show. I did broadcast Electric Vindaloo last month,
but unfortunately the "studio" was hit by a powercut halfway through
which meant a big gaping hole in the middle of proceedings. In the end I
decided to abandon salvaging the recording and move on to a new month,
and indeed new year...
Yes yes, time for another episode of Electric Vindaloo. I had to pre-record this month's show which is always a bit weird, but added to that my mic died about 20mins into the recording...so most of it is just music. "Hooray", I hear you all cheer.
Shame though 'cos more than anything I wanted to harp on about how brilliant some of the tunes are. What you're going to have to do now is download and listen to the show yourself to work out which ones (clue: all of them).
Tracklist:
Gaslamp Killer - Dead Vets
Herma Puma feat. The Gent$ - Royal Flush (Tall Black Guy Remix)
Kan Kick - C.D.P. Funk Farm
Debruit - Gros
Bent - I Remember Johnny
DJ Yoda feat. Michael Winslow - Sound FX Man
Ozomatli - Cut Chemist Suite
Jean Paul 'El Troglodita' - Everything's Gonna Change
The Fatback Band - Backstrokin'
Photek - Quadrant
Disclosure - Lividup
Justin Jay - Femme Fatale
FaltyDL - Hardcourage
HxDB - Up (Pasteman Remix)
Zed Bias feat. Fyza - Rogue Frequency
Disclosure - What's In Your Head
Fatboy Slim - First Down
A-Trak & Zinc feat. Natalie Storm - Like The Dancefloor (Shadow Child Remix)
Martyn - Popgun
Ezquiel Lodeiro - El Latinazo (Arni Kristjansson Broken Remix)
Breakage - The Promise
Compound One - Flingback
Wax Romeo - How To Stop Smoking
Epcot - Grav I Be (B Bravo Remix)
Flying Lotus feat. Erykah Badu - See Thru To U
Teru - Time To Reinvent
Herma Puma - Love Sweet Love (Tom Central Remix)
Freddie Joachim - That's What's Up
Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician - Long Now
Cro-Magnon - Garactic Mellow (Grooveman Spot Mountain Mix)
Sepalcure - See Me Feel Me
The Magic In Threes - Trinity Way
Form an orderly queue for this month's installment of Electric Vindaloo! I kept things a bit more funkboogiediscocentric for the first half of this show, then we get a bit nasty in the second half before finishing you off with a wet palmful of downtempo bliss.
There's loads of new and noteworthy current faves: I make no apologies for that Jamie Grind take on Professor Green, the Nas and Amy Winehouse tune is mesmerizing, a WORLD EXCLUSIVE from The Happy Finnish, and: Mike Delinquent Project AND Lady Leshurr AND Zed Bias??! Rude not to. Surely something for everyone though, and there's a few old faves for the ageing raver too.
Pour a beverage of choice and get stuck in. Napkin essential.
Tracklist:
The Barrino Brothers - Livin' High Off The Goodness Of Your Love
Lukk feat. Felicia Collins - On The One
Christian Gaubert - Sweet Maryline
Nas feat. Amy Winehouse - Cherry Wine
Professor Green feat. Sierra Kuterbeck - Avalon (Jamie Grind Remix)
Matthew Dear - Her Fantasy
krampfhaft - Makin' Magic
Art Of The Memory Palace - Sun-Blinded Capsule Memory Haze (The Happy Finnish Hot Rub)
Space Dimension Controller - Transatlantic Landing Bay
Chicken Lips - D.R.O.M.P. (Robi Insinna-Headman Remix)
Daphni - Yes, I Know
Souleance - Boobs
Lisa Lisa - Let The Beat Hit Em (GM's 321 Edit)
Luke Vibert - Breakbeat Metal Music
Azealia Banks - Van Vogue
Frank Rodas - Kick It VIP
John Dahlback - Sing That
Mike Delinquent Project feat. Lady Leshurr - Step In The Dance (Zed Bias Vocal Mix)
Damu - After Indigo
Deft - Crown Point
Africa Hitech - Out In The Streets (VIP)
Skeewiff - Husky
Amin Payne - Push Comes To Shove
DJ Frane - Space Convoy
RJD2 - Ghostwriter
Hidden Orchestra - Vorka
Submotion Orchestra - Blind Spot
Hello. It's been a while (again), but i'm pleased to say i'm back with more radio goodness. Or badness, depending on how you want to phrase it. I'm back on the internet airwaves on a monthly basis for the forseeable future, warm once more in the bosom of the outstanding Purple Radio.
The show, Electric Vindaloo, will cover all sorts musically, from electronica, hip-hop, breaks, house, funk, disco...the idea is to keep it electronic-based, but you know that can mean pretty much anything.
Here's a recording of the first show, as it went out live on Thurs 20th Sept. Thanks to everyone who listened in live and commented on the tunes.
Tracklist:
Beat Inc. - Just Remember (Om Unit Remix) Dreadsquad ft. Natalie Storm - Beat That Chest (J Star Remix) Wrongtom Meets Deemas J - Jump + Rock + Move Ta-Ku - Hey Kids Suff Daddy ft. Phat Kat & Elzhi - Det2bln Tanya Morgan ft. Piakhan - Alleye Need Metabeats ft. Action Bronson - Hookers Nas - The Don Eloq - Crotchkick Digi G'Alessio - ESX1 Routine (Black Suite) Darkhouse Fam - Tartan Paint King Knut - Ancient Drum Afternoons In Stereo - Blow Wagon Christ - Respectrum Onra - L.O.V.E. SebastiAn - Embody Freqnik & WDRE - Mama Said Knock You Out St Germain - Dub Experience Belleruche - 16 Minutes (Bam Bam Sound Remix) Koreless - Lost In Tokyo (Jacques Greene Remix) Arkist - Double Zero SBTRKT - Step In Shadows Monky - Baller Baller Sepalcure - Taking You Back Bwana - Sleeping In Damu - L.O.V.E Jessie Ware - Running (Disclosure Remix) Sin Plomo - Cubos Scrimshire - Ascension The Hackney Colliery Band - Under The Bridge
A very happy new year to you all. I probably should have posted news of this here sooner, but i've been busy enough setting up the whole thing and getting a mix done and ANYWAY...to be as brief as possible...
I've started a new project for 2012, where i'm attempting to put out a mixtape every week for the next year. It's called "52 Mixtapes" and you can read more about it here:
So add that to your readers and whatnot and hopefully it'll be some kind of fun. The good kind.
This place will hopefully remain as busy as ever (ARF) and yes i'm well aware I promised you a Best Albums of 2011 piece so I should do that at some point too.
Good look with your resolutions/revolutions. Speak soon.
Thought i'd better let you know what's been doing the business for me this year in the form of a list. Standard. Like a lot of people in this new age of online MP3 shopping, I find myself listening to less and less full albums and tend to opt more for EPs, singles or just a selection of tracks I buzz for from certain albums where the entire release doesn't inspire. I have of course been enjoying a fair few albums this year in their entirety, but i'll talk about those in a separate post. This is just a Top 20 Tunes thing. Oh, it's in no specific order either. Far too painful, all of that.
Still with me? Here goes...
SebastiAn - Embody
It's difficult not to love this track - electro don SebastiAn taking it down to a quality nu-funk chug beat and laying that great vocodered vocal over the top. It's almost what i'd what from a new Prince record, and there's certainly echoes of the diminutive sex-funkster here. Cracking video too, which always helps.
Joe Goddard - Gabriel (Seiji Remix)
It's been a busy year for Joe Goddard. His Two Bears collaborative project with Raf Daddy has lurched onto the scene with a distinctive brand of wonky, leftfield house and then this tune dropped to huge acclaim. As is often the case for me, the remix packages were where the real interest lay and this Seiji remix just blew me away. When doesn't a Seiji production blow you away?!
Hizatron - Von Glooperstein (Mr Scruff Remix)
One of the stealth tracks of the year for me - didn't seem to make a massive impact but I can't work out why - the legendary Mr Scruff absolutely rinsing the arse out of the dirty bass synths and that relentless driving percussive beat...quality. Nice bit of acid too. More tea, vicar?
Ta-Ku - Hey Kids
The opening salvo from the quite brilliant Brownswood Electric 2 compilation, this is another nu-funk winner from Aussie beatmaker Reggie Matthews. He may or may not also feature in the Best Albums of 2011 post too...
Julio Bashmore - Battle For Middle You
Do I really need to say anything about this one?? Absolutely massive, proven by it clocking in at no's 3 and 1 respectively in the Resident Advisor and Mixmag 2011 charts. Caught young Bashmore DJing at Cardiff's Buffalo Bar recently and it was one of the sets of the year - go and dance to his music if you ever get chance. Which you will, because he's gonna be here for a while yet.
Sepalcure - Taking You Back
I won't say too much about Sepalcure here because they're going to feature in the Best Albums post, but this track from the Hot Flush (*applause*) Back And 4th compilation is a real stirrer. Bonus points for pitch-shifting the old Lolleatta Holloway sample to good effect.
Bottin pres. Tinpong - New Religion (Marcus Marr Remix)
Stick with this one. Hypnotic, chugging, slightly NY punk nu-disco belter. It's all about that drop at 3:35. You'll know the one I mean... ;)
Hudson Mohawke - Thunder Bay
BOOM!! POW!! WHAMMY!! and other words of that nature. HudMo is back and he wants you to know it. From the frankly rude Satin Panthers EP this one tears your face off. There's no other way to describe it. Playlisted by Radio 1, too - the future's looking bright for HudMo. Nice work kidda.
I wish I knew more about this, but to be honest that doesn't really matter when a tune's this good. Lovely broken-up drums in that afro/funky/2-step style and a lovely smattering of vocal effects to punctuate it. Bassline is pure 90s flashback, which we've seen a lot of this year, but this nails it harder than most others.
Cardiff's own C.R.S.T. have been making huge strides into the current UK garage scene over the last couple of years, and seem to have really landed in 2011 with a ton of DJ gigs, some big-time remixes and this banging EP on Deep Thrills. Bigged up by none other than Rio Ferdinand. You can't win 'em all boys. ;)
Tall Black Guy - At Ease
I've been grabbing beats off Tall Black Guy for over a year now. He's been my secret weapon in many a DJ set but I'm afraid he's making a name for himself and he's not longer my little secret. Gah. Annoying for me, but brilliant - not to mention much deserved - for him. This is from the Hollyweird 2.0 release, which is worth a place in even the most discerning of record collections. Seek and enjoy.
Martyn - Popgun
Another fella that will be featuring in the Top Albums list, Martyn has been smashing it for a few years but really hit the nail on the head this year with his Ghost People album on Brainfeeder. It's difficult to pick a favourite tune from the album because it's rammed full of out-and-out quality. This is a strong contender though, and considering the amount i've been rinsing it this year it would be a crime not to include it in the Top Tunes list. The icing on the production cake here is that "ugh". And the way he messes with the percussion to keep it varied, but subtle.
GuGu - RockAByeBaby
Another tune that deserves a proper listen: you'd be fooled for thinking this is a standard afro-esque UK funky rhythm for the first minute or so, but it gets proper sexy and sleazy and dirtfunk when the synths kick in. Mine's a courvoisier, barman...
Eric B & Rakim - I Know U Got Soul (Leo Zero Rework)
Some of you are probably going to whine about this being in a Best of 2011 selection, but you'd be both wrong and an idiot. A) it's a classic being re-done to an exceptional standard and B) it WAS released this year so NERRR. As it says on the label: "a bespoke 118bpm number perfect for those Berlin mornings when daylight is poking through your converted power station / toilet / knocking shop and the horse drugs have taken their toll!".
Labrinth ft. Tinie Tempah - Earthquake
Stop laughing. Definitely a stand-out track in this year's largely uninspiring Guetta-dominated dirge pop releases, Labrinth drops the first single from his forthcoming, much anticipated debut album...and it WINS. I've got a lot of respect for a producer who chooses to turn down the likes of Beyonce and Lady Gaga because "i'm too busy working on my own album thanks". Especially when he then comes back with something as good as this. Those big snares could have been stolen from HudMo and Rustie's collections, and the screaming searing synths are as nasty as any you'd get on an IDM release. I'll be sick of it in a few months but for now i'm going to clutch it to my chest like an obsessed teenybopper. See you in the Union!
Onra - Fight Or Die
Easily the stand-out track from Onra's Chinoiseries Pt.2 (his return to Asiatic-influenced beatmaking). Much of the album could be a bunch of prospective Wu-Tang Clan beats, but this is the one that really takes the lessons learned from previous album Long Distance and ties them into the original Chinoiseries sound. Watch your neck when this one kicks in.
MJ Cole - TGV
Loads of producers get undeserved hype just for having been in the game a long time while all their decent stuff was actually years ago and now they're cruising on that first-album gravy train. I'm overjoyed that MJ Cole isn't one of them. Producer of some of my favourite UK garage tracks of all time, this is from his more forward-thinking Satellites EP. Emotional, stirring strings and stabs all underpinned by that wondrous driving beat. HE'S STILL GOT IT!!!
Canblaster - Triple Ring
This track contains several elements that float my boat: crunchy tight drums, intriguing synths, a half-time drop, lush samples and re-pitched female RnB vocal snippets. Sounds particularly good on your headphones, this one. It's all about the spacing. I challenge you to listen and NOT have that "what does she have that i don't" line stuck in your head for hours afterwards. Keeper.
Pangaea - Hex
Smashing and crashing its way to the front of the September releases pile was this absolute stormer on Hemlock Recordings. You've probably got the message with the kind of drums i'm buzzing for right now, and this doesn't disappoint on that front...but that vocal cutting and juggling is great. Unless you hate it - I realise it could be one of those Marmite love/hate things, but it's two thumbs-up from me. If I had a third thumb i'd put it up for a bassline that's reminiscent of Smith & Mighty's "B-Line Fi Blow".
Azealia Banks ft. LazyJay - 212
Jumped on and blogged by all the hipsters in the last few months, and yet the first person to give me the heads-up on this one was MY MOM. Honest - she's got her ear to the ground. She also doesn't mind a completely filthy lyric and hands-in-the-air big room dance beat. Remember Nicki Minaj? You won't after next year. This is Azealia's time. Oh, and someone get her and Missy to do something over a fresh Timbaland beat. And get me her number. Damn.
*****
And that, my friends, is that. Well done if you actually read this far - being concise was never a forte of mine. If i'd thought about it I might have set up a tea and cake table down here at the end as a reward to those who got this far. Maybe next year.
Keep an eye out for my Top Albums post, coming at some point in the next week or so, as well as some news on an exciting new project i'll be embarking on in 2012.
Until then, have a wonderfully festive Christmas break. A very merry one to you and your families. Take care, much love.
