Venga Bwoi

Hello peeps. How's things? Well?

My, it's been a long time. For this I can only apologise; my joy at finding employment has rapidly turned to dusty maudlin, and the prospect of this being the forseeable future is making it very hard to summon the energy to do anything of any value whatsoever. 9 hours a day of helping car parking people in an office full of car parking people really takes the joy out of a life, ya dig?

Now would obviously be the time to say 'but at least music's keeping me sane!' However, there's only so much soul uplift a 4/4 kick and a hi-hat can provide, and being the mulish man I am I can't be doing with anything more fun-kay. If minimal can't banish my misery, then I guess I'll just keep crying. Anyway, to the bones...

Valmay - Radiated Future [Blueprint]

Low-slung subs and busy hats; Valmay, you sure know the way to a man's heart. This is the latest incarnation of Paul Souter aka Paul Mac, a UK fella who's been making techno music for nigh on 2 decades. Now, I have no idea who he is, but then that's why we have MySpace I suppose. However, names and decades aside, this shit rolls. It rolls onward forever, a techno flywheel powered by a liquid groove, if you will. Big room stabs and acres of reverb are locked together by a straight down the bat 4/4 with gated white noise and slightly off-kilter hats gently pulling the beat back and forth. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the phaser on the hi-end; phase has never really been my crumpet.

Still, I'll forgive this one indescretion, since the track itself is a masterful demonstration of restraint; suspense builds and ebbs as the track moves between peak and release in a fog of sound that shows you don't need to do a lot to do a lot. This is why I love minimal so; gentle, gentle vibes that change the whole vibe of a record without anyone noticing. It gets inside you.

It finishes a bit weird, mind. Very unsettling.

Up&Atom

Eskimo Twins and Bowski

Wax:On have recently set up a label which has already released the hugely popular artist (and Wax:On resident/promoter/party planner) Doorly and his 'Toys' EP. An EP that surprised many with a good lead techno-infused tune and some great remixes on the package, including ones from Matt Walsh & Alex Jones and the guys I'm about to focus on now, Eskimo Twins. Eskimo Twins actually have the next release all to themselves, being residents of Wax:On parties and have already established a great name for themselves. The twins rock. They look cool and they make cool music. This is all I ask. The new EP is entitled 'Horror' and contains some of the loveliest tech-electro production I've heard in a long time. You can preview the title track on their Myspace here and the full release is out on November 16th on Wax:On Music. Make sure you pick that up, but in the meantime they've provided you with a taste of their sound with a remix for Black Strobe. It's delightful, combining atmospheric techno with bouncy bouncy electro. Hands in the air people.

♫ Black Strobe - Italian Fireflies (Eskimo Twins Remix)

The Wax:On music label also have an upcoming mix CD out soon to hel

p promote the newly formed soon-to-be-rather-large music distribution company and

to coincide with the Wax:On brands 5th Birthday! Happy Birthday. The compilation CD will be a double CD, with one CD mixed by their resident DJ's and Them People and the other mixed by the legendary Fake Blood. The CD will also be out at some point this month, the great thing the Wax guys have done though is let us preview one of the songs in Fake Blood's half of the CD. Mr Blood being somewhat a person you can 'rely on' for picking decent tunes, this one's no exception. The song is by a producer called Bowski hailing from Bristol, little have I heard about this man, which I love really. A great song by a producer I have no idea about simply, but it's refreshing to find brand new music that you instantly fall in love with.

♫ Hooves - Bowski

The great use of 'bom bom bom' vocals sold it to me I think. Also, just remembered, blog friends/lovers/spouses Funkism did an interview back in June with the Eskimo lads - it's a good read and an insight into how they'd answer awkward/inappropriate/hilarious questions from those cheeky Funkism chappys. Here.

Wonk this Saturday w/ Rene Van Munster! What a big weekend.

As if I'm some kind of Sheffield loving machine, I just want to quickly tell you what two of my favourite lads are doing this Saturday after Bigger Than Barry at DQ this Friday. One of my blog faves, Rene Van Munster is appearing upstairs for the famed night Wonk. Wonk has recently had a bit of a makeover, new art, logo and a most excellent new resident - all this is such good news and you can tell everyone who loves the night is massively happy about it. Not that the night got bad or anything, I think everyone just knew after the last event (which celebrated their 1st birthday) things needed shaking up a bit. And oh BOY have they shaken things up, promoting the night as more of a techno and house night, upcoming guests include Solo and well, I can't tell you future guests actually as it's meant to be a surprise but trust me expect more of that techno, bongo, tropical type sound the kids are going mad for recently. I'm mad hyped.

For this upcoming Wonk on the 7th November, not only have they got one of the most surreal, weird and brilliantly genius producers around, but they got him to do a mix for their Squelch & Clap series. It's brilliant, I have four mixes that I'm listening to over and over again this week, this is one of them ( - aswell as Harry Benson's, Onemans and Brackles which you can all find below in previous posts!).

Squelch & Clap #2 - Mixed by Rene Van Munster (not only do you get the mix here, you get the artwork by James Prescott too! Preview below!)

Check out the event here motherlickers, my what a big weekend we have. Let's make it a good 'un.

Bigger Than Barry Sheffield this Friday w/ Oneman & Brackles

Oompa doompa doopity darry, big things this friday with Bigger Than Barry! The Barry lads just won't quit, a constant stream of amazing nights that never fail to leave your head spinning. I love these lads, mainly because they are another reason why Sheffield is buzzin'. For that I thank them. I also thank them for this upcoming Friday, because they've got the one and only Oneman and bigger than anything Brackles. Super duper. Both these names are Barry favourites and if they're not your favourites now, come this Friday and you'll have two new favourite DJ's by the end of the night. Oneman known for tearing up Fabric's 10th birthday, literally, and smashing up Toddla's album launch party here in Sheffytown. Brackles known for being part of the Blunted Robots fam and making dub credible, none of this silly pubstep malarky here, ask Mary-Anne Hobbs - she usually knows what's up.

Okay if words aren't enough, stick these mixes in your ears to get a grip of 'what is up yo'.

Oneman - Fall For Autumn

Brackles - Mix for Fact Mag

These two have kept my ears ringing after blasting them to and from work for the past week, thoroughly recommended. Check their myspaces too, Oneman, Brackles and of course here's the Facebook event where you will press 'attend' if you know what's good for you.

Oh yes and obviously the Krooked boys (i.e. me, Sci Fi Kid and Danny Beck) will be gettin' crunk upstairs in room 2 if you fancy a quick knee wobble.

Harry Benson

You've seen/read me hype this lovely lad Harry before, who resides in Leeds mainly as a resident to the brilliant night at Nation of ShopKeepers - Kill The Rhythm. Harry Benson also residents at other nights such as Control and plays all over the place (including a recent slot at Krooked) whacking out his unique style of house, techno and tropical cross-over. Harry's dabbling into producing has seen him rise up the hype ladder a bit more with some rather big news involving a remix for a certain couple of amazing techno producers. But this is all I can say, I am merely here to allow to you take in Harry's awesomeness and dwell in it for as long as two original tracks and a mix will last.

First track 'Sticks' is the song that made me prick up my ears about Harry, an excellent structure to a minimal-tropical song (I'm not one to make up genres now... But you will see what I mean), shows Harry is clearly a guy who possesses the 'producers mind'. You know, the ability to know what works well when stitching together a new song, 'this will go perfectly here' or 'I'll change this section up a bit, it will be more exciting that way' are phrases one who possesses such producer mind-waves may say .

♫ Harry Benson - Sticks

The next I'm excited to share with you is his remix for Riva Starr's 'I Was Drunk' (out now!). Riva Starr recently held a competition with the help of Discobelle, to remix his then forthcoming single. This usually means that bloggers like me will then get hundreds upon hundreds of samey-samey-same-same remixes through from producers trying to grab that spotlight - but this competition I was excited about, as this single isn't a typical song that can be sodden with fidget nonsense, it would require a mature and sensible approach to get anything good out of the remix. I got some great submissions I have to say, but Harry's just shone through. I'm really excited to hear Harry's future productions and I'm definitely having him over to Sheffy as much as possible, now breathe this one in -

♫ Riva Starr - I was Drunk ft. Noze (Harry Benson Remix)

And another great mix, perfect for my walks to work, from the Benson. Made my day this, especially because the ending track by Douster.

♫ Harry Benson - November Mix

1. Matt Tolfrey & D. Ramirez - Bounce To Me

2. Victor Vera & Mijail - Jungler

3. The Very Best - Ada Manja (Tim Green Remix)

4. Lorcan Mak - Brass My Ass

5. Harry Benson - Kudzu

6. Gramophondenzie - Why Don't You

7. Mowgli - London To Paris

8. Lazy Jay - Float My Boat

9. Zinc - Blunt Edge

10. Tiger Stripes - Alma

11. Claude Vonstroke - Vocal Chords

12. Edu Imbernon - Mayenco

13. Douster - King of Africa

Make sure you tune into Harry Benson on Thursday nights, 6-7pm over at www.lsfr.com (join facebook group for updates, tracklistings etc) for a great selection of tracks from his countless promo lists that you will never have heard until then, thus spending the next week trying to find these treasures. I'm a victim.

Mix O' Clock

As you know (or don't) I DJ in a duo called Mugshots, with my friend Chris - we DJ at the night I help run Krooked and all round Sheffield, we have also DJ'ed at various other places nationwide including Fabric and more recently Cosmic Ballroom for blog family Rub A Dub Dub (there will be more on this soon!). Our style is big jump-up techno and lovely mature electro, which I obviously love, but sometimes, as you will know if you're a long time reader, I love to just go mental to loud LOUD party music (hence the early posts). So I thought, there's no harm in me DJing and succumbing to my 'wilder' side by having a little go on my own. Thus, I made a mix. A mix jam-packed of my favourite party electro, crazy bass drops and the jiggiest vocal loops of my recent taste! Let me know what you think guys -

Louis Louis - Mix o' Clock [mediafire]

I'm gonna start to DJ as Louis Louis as a side-project type thing I reckons, as part of reppin' my blog and as a chance to go that little bit more mental than I usually do, playing all my favourite tunes of any genre I please. As my idol once said, let's go crazy.

Tracklisting
1. Florence & The Machine - Drumming Song (Jack Beats Remix)
2. Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix)
3. Radioclit - Divine Gosa (Kevstar's Latin Remix)
4. Savage Skulls - Bumps
5. Twizzle - Skydiving (GreenMoney Remix)
6. Black Noise - Knock You Out (Andy George Remix)
7. Crookers - Put Your Hands On Me (Solo Dub Remix)
8. Major Lazer - Pon De Floor (BeatauCue Remix)
9. Herve & Martelo - Wasted
10. Sidney Samson - Riverside (Louis Louis' Countryside Edit)
10. Etienne De Crecy - Hannukah (Beni's Swap Mix for Monsiuer De Crecy Remix)
11. Armand Van Helden - Playmate (Jesse Rose Remix)
12. Switch - A Bit Patchy
13. Florence & The Machine - Drumming Song (Boy 8 Bit Remix)

There will be a mix from Mugshots soon too, make sure you check us out over at the myspace.

Chaos Dans Le CBD

This is one of those tracks that just struck me instantly, I loved it from the get go. It's probably because it involves everything I was searching for at the time of download, something fresh, exciting all wrapped up in an excellent groove. Chaos Dans Le CBD are two brothers, 21 and 19 years of age, from Devonport, Auckland which is in New Zealand. Yiss.

First of all, I give respect straight away for working alongside a sibling, although this clearly is a recipe to success in examples like Shadow Dancer, Soulwax et al (we could reel off at least 10 sibling production teams, go:). Each tune seems to have taken inspiration from the greats in our game, solid drums, rhythmic bongos, squelchy bass synths and stabbing riffs with excellent sample manipulation. Tesh & Maccas, the first song I present has been a staple in many of my recent sets/playlists purely for being mega funky yet mega techy, excellent production on this one boys, grab -

Chaos Dans Le CBD - Tesh & Maccas

Next up they had a go at remixing the infamous Peanuts Club, an '09 favourite. They've made it a bit lighter by using the catchiest riff of the year over a solid clappy clap drum beat and whipped up some excellent extra percussion and bass to make it overall, an excellent remix. Wait for the original riff CBD drop at 3.30 ish, pure techno gold.

Brodinski & Noob - Peanuts Club (Chaos Dans Le CBD Remix)

Another orignal for yous now, yet another favourite, I can't choose dammit! Rag & Rats starts straight away with stuck-in-your-head theme CBD seem to have a knack for perfecting. An echo-y synth stab arrives and compliments the excellent groove until you find yourself knee-bopping and fist-pumping. Contagious stuff, be warned.

Chaos Dans Le CBD - Rag & Rats

Meat Katie - Tension

I've just been sent some beautiful music, from none other than head honcho of the Lot 49 brand, Meat Katie. Now I've never really delved into much of Meat Katie's stuff, just only been aware of him, ya know? I see this as a good thing, it gives me the chance to explore his sound and what his achievements he's earned over a career span of fifteen years.

Yeah, so it seems this guy is a bit of a legend! If you haven't had the chance to appreciate this man yet, just like me, Mark Pember has recorded for labels such as Lot49, Kingsize, R&S & Wall of Sound to name a few, he has mixed and compiled albums for Ministry of Sound, Fabric & Bedrock; he has run two highly successful labels in Whole 9 Yards and Lot49 and he has Dj’ed in every corner of the globe at some of the world’s biggest music events and dirtiest clubs.

As a perfect introduction to Meat Katie's sound, listen to this off his new EP entitled 'Tension'. This EP comes with no remixes, all original work of tech-infused house with exquisite production and beautiful vocal samples. This slice of the EP has the perfect beat behind it, that echoed background techno synth and samples sliding in and out like the tide. I'm a big big fan and will surely pick up the EP.

♫ Meat Katie - Tension

The song is in 128 as the EP is out now on Beatport, you can grab here. Also, if you're a Sheffield resident, there is a night at our holy mecca of clubs DQ that holds a Lot49 night once a month that I truly recommend you check out too.

Pick up his latest mix too, a work of genius.

Meat Katie - DJ mix

Louis Louis.

Kill The Bear

This lad first came to my attention when he was known as 'Tomtomtom'. Not a very imaginative name, but had the passion for creating music and found that actually... He was pretty damn good at it. So with a swift name change, some spanking tunes, 2 residencies in Milton Keynes and an 'Introducing...' mix under his belt, here he is - Kill The Bear.

Introducing... Kill The Bear Mix

His style comes from deep echo-y house, with spices of sunrises and beaches in there - you can clearly hear the influences, which definitely makes the listener prick up their ears when one of his original tunes are played. He's taken these elements and created modern, popular sounding songs with dashings of gypsy techno and bongo drums. Exactly what I want right now thanks, check this tune that samples an accordion to great effect -

♫ Kill The Bear - Accordion

Kill The Bear will be coming to Sheffield at some point soon to play, but for everyone else check out his Sound Cloud and Myspace for new tunes and mixes that will fill you with glee.

Louis Louis.

BIGGER THAN BARRY w/ JACK BEATS, MARTELO + MUGSHOTS!

There's a rather belt-busting night happening on Friday in this here town of Sheffield, Uncle Barry's come back with what could be the biggest Bigger Than Barry event in Sheffy yet. Jack Beats and Martelo grace the decks, but who do they have support? Only Mugshots! (i.e. ME! and my DJ partner Chris! ha). Then upstairs we have my night Krooked presenting Louis Louis favourite Harry Benson and a certain Wonky Ninja. Wow.



All for a measly tasty fiver. BUY TICKETS HERE. EVENT HERE. I'm not usually one to spam the blog with events and such, but this deserved a shout out, Sheffield is my perfect party town. I have some great posts coming up on this here blog soon, keep eyes peeled etc.

Louis Louis.

Jeff Doubleu - African Drum Concert

Time for some action from Jengaa now, this label, the baby spin-off from the biggun' Venga Digital focuses a lot more on that dubbed down, jackin' house type sound. This latest release from Jeff Doubleu is the epitomy of jackin' house, he's combined that ever-popular tribal sound, those techy clicks and 'just-enough-bump' drumbeat. Jeff is making a name for himself as I can only assume he's quite new to the scene having not really heard his name before. He's recently joined Jack Union, Dandy Kids and Crux labels as well as releases on Jengaa to bring their sounds out of that 'fidget' world to the noise that is getting into everyone's heads recently, tribal techno.

Remixes come from Rockwell D, who we've featured before and one half of Zombie Disco Squad - Nat Self. Both have done a sterling job on this African techno single, which is what you'd expect from these two, although both being from either sides of the 'house' spectrum, both have been making abig name for themselves with their distinct sounds and producing.

I'm going to share a 128kbps version of the Nat Self remix, just to give you a taste of what to expect from what has become my favourite release so far from Jengaa.

♫ Jeff Doubleu - African Drum Concert (Nat Self Remix)

This EP was released yesterday, Monday 28th September, so make sure you go pick it up and little hint - the original is my favourite, watch out for Jeff Doubleu (myspace).

Apologies for being away from the blog for a while, but Tom seems to have kept you all busy with his delightful techno. I assure you we're back properly now after an all-over-the-place summer and look forward to new podcasts!

Louis Louis.

Murk & Liberty City

Last night's Vibetown extravaganza was a highly enjoyable affair. Somehow it got crazy busy on both floors, and peeps were vibing hard to gallons of sounds, which was lovely. Sadly, some soulless cock-nonces decided to rob Run Hide Survive's phone and Sam Skullduggery's bag. It's always nice when people put the effort to put on something as good as last night and DJs volunteer their time and effort for nowt, and some utter shit-potato decides to ruin it for everyone.

That aside I accidentally got upsettingly drunk and spent a horrible day sat in an office sweating awful booze and trying to avoid doing anything. Fun times it has not been, but I'm sure it was still all worth it. This is a track that got played last night, but because I was so liquored on free booze I couldn't tell you whether it went down well.

Murk & Liberty City - If You Really Love Someone (Paul Woolford remix) (Up&Atom edit)

The full Woolford version of this is 11 minutes long, and features a hell of a lot of terrible vocal. It also takes forever to get to its drop, but is crazy busy throughout, so all we've done is snip it up and put it back together without vocals, and added some little incidental stuff to try and give it some more dynamic body. We've left the track alone as much as possible aside from this since its thick kick and wild arpeggios are best left untouched. Woolford's the man, after all.

Bigger Than Jesus

See? Regular as clockwork kids, providing plenty of wee techno treats for your soft ears. I start work on Monday, so this is all part of my back to the real world viewpoint on life, in which I get up and do things, make lists of tasks that need to be performed and then perform them, and all in all make a decent person of myself. Hopefully, this means I shall get some songs finished, actually do some DJing, and all that sort of loveliness. However, tomorrow night I'm playing at Welcome to Vibetown, a Freshers-y kind of promoters' marathon at the one and only DQ, and then have to be into my second day of work at 8.45 in the morning. Professionalism vibes to the max.

Still, should be a good night and I'll try my best not to get too fired. I shall more than likely be playing this track, which is a little bit of a weapon. I dropped it at the last Pony and it seemed to go down well, so with any luck it'll have the same effect tomorrow night. If you're there, then look out for it.

Bigger Than Jesus - Ze Kids Want Techno [Italo Business]

I like this track because it's strange. It's an absolutely stomping techno track but it doesn't take itself too seriously, which is always nice. What it may not have in finesse it more than makes up for in pure energy, which is what I think makes it stand out from what on paper looks to be a cracking remix package. With Audiojack and Dandi & Ugo on touch up duties, you'd have thought the original might struggle to make itself onto playlists. Personally, I feel that both mixes play much too straight with the original, and instead we get a pair of slightly lifeless techno by numbers tracks, which is a pity. Everything's OK though because the original Bigger Than Jesus track hums, buzzes and flies off in all sorts of directions. Centring on a bouncing bassline, the track builds to a bizarre breakdown with screaming filters and whining synths. Simple, but devastatingly effective.

Yeah-asol

My word, hasn't it been a long time? However, I now have a new job and internet, and am thus back in the game baby. Plenty studio time, plenty DJing, plenty blogging, plenty music. S'good times.

Today we go minimal. Very, very minimal:

Cornell, Cheeptek - Aerosol [Animal Play Minimal]

Animal Play Minimal are a Mexican label, and Cornell and Cheeptek are young Mexican producers. Marvellous. So this track is a sunkissed slice of Hispanic house? Oh no. What we have on our hands is as minimal as they come, a Peace Division tinged roller that seems to chug on forever. And ever. And ever. It works perfectly as a mix-bed for bringing other elements over, but its deep groove and verbing hi-hats mean it's also just a bonza track for your day to day business.

Up&Atom

Schizofonics MEGA Exclusive!

I'm so happy to be able to say this - 'here is the exclusive of the newest remix from Dublin-based electro fiends, Schizofonics'. That should get you excited enough, but I haven't told you what the remix is of yet... Yes, a song that couldn't be more suited, 'MEGA' by the top-of-the-league duo The Count & Sinden.

In my opinion, the original track kind of lacked that certain something that almost disappointed me with the amount of pre-release hype it achieved. Whether it was extra bass or extra claps, I don't know, but Schizofonics found it. They've taken the song and their production skills to a whole new level, which is a rare accomplishment in remixes lately. It's been taken past that 'Jack Beats' level, and placed comfortably on top of that 'so-ridiculous-it-works' scale. People will hear this and go crazy for it, DJ's take note.

♫ The Count & Sinden - MEGA (Schizofonics Remix)

I've got the boys to come over for the Halloween bash at Krooked in Sheffield at the end of October, I for one cannot wait, it's going to be mega. Meanwhile, check out their AV sets and mixes over at their blog and myspace and start building some hype for one of the best Krooked's ever!