This is from Detroit in 1981. Juan Atkins would go on to become one of the true godfathers of what we now call techno, but a whole decade earlier he was collaborating with one Richard Davis, a spaced out ex-Vietnam vet, under the Cybotron moniker.
While the history books often record that it was Afrika Bambaataa's ‘Planet Rock’ that took the white European electro sounds of Kraftwerk to the black dancefloors of the USA, we can see that Atkins was already exploring a similar path a year or so earlier.
It’s certainly true that Bambaataa took those cold crisp electronic beats to the mainstream clubs of NYC, but Atkins was already cultivating something of an underground scene in Detroit. Once disco started morphing into house just down the road in Chicago a few years later, Atkins was in a prime spot to seize the initiative, upping the bpm factor on his old school electro experiments to change the course, shape, and speed of dance music for years to come.
Here’s some experimental electro/techno from Cybotron, ‘Cosmic Raindance’ from 1981:
To celebrate the passing of the first reading of the Marriage Equality Bill – nice to see New Zealand’s parliamentarians exercising something akin to common sense for a change – I thought I’d go for something big, bouncy, and very gay today ... a fat cheesy cross-dressing slice of 80s disco heaven from someone who really knew how to party ... LGBT community icon, Divine (aka Glenn Milstead – RIP).
This is actually a b-side, an instrumental remix that isn’t really an instrumental at all, and a version that is arguably better than the a-side released as a single. So far as lost classics go, ‘Native Love’ is the real deal, with this release for some inexplicable reason being largely overshadowed by Divine’s later output, most notably tracks like ‘Love Reaction’ and ‘Shoot Your Shot’. But I love this track, particularly the percussion, and it rates in my opinion as Divine’s best work.
Again, this one takes us all the way back to 1982 – Divine’s ‘Native Love’ (Instrumental Remix):
I'm going to post a few lost dance classics from the 80s, rare groove and stuff. Just for the hell of it. Because I can ... and because I'm presently very much absorbed in 'Last Night A DJ Saved My Life', Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton's seminal tome on the history of dance music ... going all the way back to 1982 with this one:
The
upcoming release of the album collaboration between The Orb and Lee ‘Scratch’
Perry (album preview mix below) is a mouth watering prospect to say the very
least.
The
fairly recent alliance between The Orb and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour was
something of a disappointment for me, and it all felt a little too cumbersome
and contrived to my ears. But Perry tends to sprinkle a little stardust on
everything he’s involved with, and all early indicators are that The Orb’s Alex
Paterson may have met his match with Mr Perry. Whisper it, but we may even have
a legitimate dub album of the year contender on our hands.
So
in anticipation of what should be a very good second half of 2012 for album
releases – I eagerly await the new Adrian Sherwood effort every bit as much – I
recently went back and had a listen to The Orb’s 1991 double CD set Adventures
Beyond The Ultraworld.
Immersing
myself in this monster more than two full decades after its initial release
reminded me of just how pioneering Paterson and co were at the time. In fact,
the album could easily be mistaken for a much more recent work than it actually
is – in true Sci Fi fashion, this sounded truly out of this world back in the
early Nineties, and little has changed.
Which,
I guess, is the whole point, and something very much recognised in the album’s
title. It is other worldly – of this planet obviously, yet very much keen to
extend its boundaries well beyond life as we know it (Jim).
As
such, we get a whole range of sounds and electronic wonderment to digest –
insect and animal noises, birds singing, samples from old TV programmes
including the odd NASA documentary, and generally a wide variety of other bits
and bobs designed to give the album its extra-terrestrial lost-in-space charm
and appeal.
The
single ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’ (which contains an unauthorised excerpt/intro of
Rickie Lee Jones ruminating on the state of the Arizona skies when she was
young – something that Jones subsequently objected to) is probably the best
known Orb track for non-Orb aficionados, and as wonderful as it undoubtedly is,
it is by no means the stand-out on the album, and I’d say the album is best
consumed as a whole in one sitting.
At
a tick under four and a half minutes ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’ – the opening track
– is by quite some margin the shortest track to be found on Ultraworld. And as
daunting as it might sound, even the 18-minute-plus closer – ‘A Huge Ever
Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld’ (ahem) –
tends to race by without any hint of tedium whatsoever. Of course, that rather
depends on what else you’re doing at the time, but I’m sure you’ll take my
point.
There’s
probably some underlying concept or theme here far too obvious for me to have
noticed – other than the inter-planetary aspect touched on – but I prefer not
to think too hard about it, this is a great album as a pure listening
experience alone and I recommend it to all wannabe space cadets ...
Highlights:
‘Little Fluffy Clouds’, ‘Earth (Gaia)’, ‘Outlands’, and the Reggae-infused
‘Perpetual Dawn’.
Hugely
influential electronic act Leftfield arrived to international prominence in the
mid Nineties with an album, Leftism, that helped set new standards for not only
producers of all types of electronic music, but for progressive
techno-orientated dancefloor music as a whole.
The
duo of Neil Barnes and Paul Daley would subsequently go on to become one of the
genre’s most iconic acts during a decade that also introduced us to the likes
of the Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Daft Punk, Orbital, and The Orb. Each of
the aforementioned acts came up with at least one genre-defining album of its own
during the era, yet Leftfield’s Leftism is surely the one that has best stood
the test of time. It still sounds fresh today, some 17 years or so after its
release.
Having
already struck commercial gold after their collaboration with ex-Sex Pistol
John Lydon (on the single ‘Open Up’), the duo’s status as one of the more
celebrated acts of the period was practically assured by the time ‘A Final Hit’
was used to soundtrack one of the more memorable scenes in the cult/hit movie
Trainspotting.
Leftism
was quite simply a sublime piece of work, and it therefore comes as no great
surprise that the album in its (virtual) entirety helps form the core content
on Tourism, Leftfield’s rather belated nod to its live performances; a double
CD set that seeks to document Leftfield’s Australian tour of 2011. Although
technically, it was really just Barnes (and friends) by this stage, with Daley
having finally left him to it.
What
strikes me about Tourism is just how easily these studio-inspired tracks
translate into live gems, with ‘Song of Life’, ‘Original’, ‘Release The
Pressure’, and even the spaced-out ambience of ‘Melt’ all proving to be rather
compelling as live show highlights. There are a couple of tracks from Leftism’s
1999 follow-up album, Rhythm And Stealth, with the seminal ‘Phat Planet’ being
an ideal album closer.
Although
there was a compilation of the duo’s earliest material (Backlog, 1992), and a
remix version of Rhythm And Stealth issued (as Stealth Remixes, 2000), plus a
“Greatest Hits” (A Final Hit, 2005) collection, Leftfield’s discography remains
quite lightweight so this live album also works as a genuine overview of
Leftfield’s best work. In truth, there’s not a huge difference between the
studio and live versions of many of these tracks, and if anything, some of them
sound re-energised in a live setting. Capturing the between-track crowd
reaction throughout certainly helps add to the sense of occasion.
And
it probably rates, at this stage anyway, as one of my best purchases of 2012 so
far.
Neil Barnes, Sydney, 2011
Here’s
what Barnes himself has to say about Tourism: …“We were in enjoying ourselves
in Sydney after a period of extreme flying and mental gigs when the idea of a
live album was mentioned in passing. The Australian tour was such a success; it
seemed like a waste not to do it. We wanted to try and capture the quality of
music, the excitement we were all feeling and the enthusiasm and warmth of the
Australian crowd. It’s been a massive project but Tourism feels like a
testament to all the hard work and enjoyable graft we have all put in over the
last two years.”
Christian
Srigley and Leighton James are Adventure Club, a Montreal-based
electronic/dubstep production duo clearly intent on making their music as
accessible and as widely available as possible by using sites like Soundcloud.
Indeed,
Adventure Club’s own Soundcloud page expresses the following philosophy …
“sharing is caring. Feel free to download, and share our music if you like it.
Pass it on, paying for music is the worst” …
Primarily
dubstep in nature, but with a crispy euphoric dancefloor slant, Adventure Club
is at its best when recasting the work of other artists, but from all accounts
the duo are equally at home producing their own stuff, and several of the
freely available files are issued purely under the Adventure Club moniker.
But
it is the remix work that appeals most, and highlights of Adventure Club’s
relatively prolific output to date include its reworking of fellow Canadian
band Metric’s ‘Collect Call’, the slightly bent transformation given to the
Yeah Yeah Yeah’s otherwise ordinary ‘Wait’ (clip below), and my own personal
fave Adventure Club moment – the heavy stepper bottom end added to Irish folkie
James Vincent McMorrow’s ‘We Don’t Eat’ (clip below).
Formed
in early 2011, Adventure Club already has something fast approaching 200,000
Facebook followers, so they’re hardly an unknown quantity, or even particularly
low profile, and they probably don’t really need the likes of me to help give
them additional exposure but in years to come Srigley and James are going to be
huge, I’m already quite sure of it … make sure you can say you were there right
at the start.
It’s
fair to say that with a handful of full-length album releases and a large
number of other digital releases safely stashed away in his swag bag,
Toronto-based producer Dubmatix (aka Jesse King) is no mere novice or low
profile newcomer. But he’s worthy of mention here simply because in Soundcloud
terms he remains my most reliable “go to” guy whenever I’m looking for a fix of
conscious roots or steppa-style dub … which, it’s also fair to say, is quite
often these days.
I
first stumbled across his work in late 2010 via a remix of Bob Marley’s ‘Is
This Love’ (Dubmatix Re-Visioned) and have subsequently over the past 18
months found myself repeatedly returning to his Soundcloud and/or Bandcamp
pages to dig out new gems from the vast back catalogue of free downloads
available. Seldom am I disappointed with what I find there.
It
isn’t just the work of other artists that King explores; he is a brilliant
musician in his own right, a multi-instrumentalist, and many of the releases
are exclusively his own work. There are plenty of collaborations to sate the
appetite too, with a veritable who’s who of more established artists right
across the spectrum – from rocksteady (the late Alton Ellis) to roots (Mighty
Diamonds, Michael Rose) to more current flavours (Brother Culture, Easy Stars)
– having all benefitted from the gritty down to earth Dubmatix treatment.
On
all of his releases, somehow this Canadian white guy manages to conjure up the
spirit of a long repressed Jamaican exploring his deepest darkest Ethiopian
roots, all albums (look for CD releases as well as digital files) are
recommended listening, and I retain personal affection for his 2011 Clash Of
The Titans – The System Shakedown Remixes set.
Another
guy putting loads of free stuff out there on Soundcloud is popular Beatport
artist Kill Paris (aka Corey Baker), an LA-based DJ and producer. In
the studio, his remixing and wider production work has helped transform Funk
classics like Patrice Rushen’s ‘Forget Me Nots’ and Prince’s ‘I Wanna Be Your
Lover’ (among many others of the same ilk) into works of modern musical art.
He’s not been shy about applying his own slightly twisted take to more recent
works either – his polishing up of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Without You’ being one
recent case in point … even if I’m not quite so keen on that one personally.
Kill
Paris has also nurtured a strong following as a live/touring DJ, having
supported the high profile likes of Benny Benassi, while regularly touring
across North America in his own right. It’s very difficult to pin a label on
Kill Paris; some electro, techno, straight up disco, all with something of a
dubstep bent.
I’ve
been spending a fair bit of time on Soundcloud recently. Exploring different
genres, listening to remixes, learning what’s apparently “hot” and what’s not. I
love nothing better than scrolling through the tracks on offer, being
selective, keeping a beady eye out for the free download option (most files at
good quality 320kbps). Generally the site is a breeze to use and has terrific
search functions. I tend to release the little speech bubble on most tracks to instantly
rid myself of the comments (not unlike those pesky ads on Youtube); there’s only
so many times you can read the words “sick track” and other similarly generic
or inane comments before a small ball of vomit starts to form in the back of
your throat (perhaps that’s just you? – Ed). But the download function is
straightforward enough and the site’s vast range of active contributors means
there’s always something fresh and interesting to catch the ear. Almost too
much, in fact.
So
concentrating on Soundcloud first and foremost, I thought it might be fun to
document a few of these discoveries over a series of posts (as and when). Whether
the artists/producers are signed, unsigned, or merely a gifted bedroom boffin,
I’ll try to use this space to help put their work out there. I’ll stick to
works that many of us would have been only too keen to fork out real cash money
for not so very long ago … ah, the musical joys of the interweb.
Starting
with … Willow Beats
One
particularly observant Facebook friend turned me on to Willow Beats today,
announcing them as “kids from Melbourne” …before doing the linky love thing to hook me up with the Willow Beats
Soundcloud and Bandcamp pages (see links below) – and a free download of the
self-titled March 2012 five track “EP” release.
Willow
Beats is effectively Narayana Johnson, a 23-year-old Melbourne-schooled
producer with a ton of compositional talent. Johnson’s default setting appears
to be steppy electronica – almost glitchy in nature at times – and while the EP
reveals a rather large size nine placed firmly in the dreamy ambient camp,
there’s a genuinely rich dubstep feel to the whole thing.
Johnson’s
collaborator on the EP is the honey voiced Kalyani Ellis, whose nonchalant other-worldly
approach to the art of vocals blends perfectly with Johnson’s dark bass driven vibes.
The result is something instantly delicious and accessible.
All
five tracks on the Willow Beats EP are worth checking out ... and hey, it’s all
free and accounted for!
Here’s
Willow Beats claiming a lovely slice of Bowie’s eternal classic ‘Space Oddity’:
Over
the course of the past 15 years or so, the eclectic London-based collective the
Dub Pistols have firmly established themselves as a leading live act throughout
the UK and beyond. Their sixth and latest album, Worshipping The Dollar, was released
earlier this year.
Effectively
the brainchild of club identity Bill Ashworth, the group’s wider family has in
the past included Terry Hall of The Specials fame, while the current line-up
includes reggae kings Red Star Lion and Dan Bowskill, UK hip hop star Rodney P,
Ms Dynamite’s brother Akala, plus regular dub MCs TK and Darrison … among
others.
Worshipping
The Dollar is the first album of fresh material since 2009’s Rum & Coke,
and its release coincides with a heavy schedule of touring and festival gigs throughout
the current Northern hemisphere summer. And just like the group’s live
performances – the Dub Pistols were voted the UK’s Best Live Act at DJ
Magazine’s 2011 Best of British Awards – the studio album doesn’t disappoint. Just
as you would expect from a group equally renowned for its soundtrack work.
I’m
not sure if dub hop is an actual musical genre or merely a figment of my
fevered imagination, but if it is a genre then the Dub Pistols would surely be
considered one of its leading purveyors; this is dub music with a hip hop vibe
to it; the various vocalists either toasting inna reggae stylee or rapping in a
more conventional sense.
But
the beat is mostly about the bass, and despite some heavy subject matter
lyrically, this is all about the groove and getting those hips swaying. This is
dance music with a slight conscience – most of it focuses on the darkside
(politics, poverty), while other parts are rather more throwaway … but it
always feels relevant and never fails to get its skank on.
Worshipping
The Dollar blends reggae, ska, hip hop, and electronica, the sum of those parts
being a fully formed whole, a skip-free listen in one sitting, and more
generally the album is a thoroughly enjoyable bass-centric journey into state
of the art dub, 2012 style.
Highlights:
‘Alive’ (feat. Red Star Lion), ‘Rub A Dub’ (feat. Darrison, Sir Real, and Dan
Bowskill), ‘Countermeasure’, and ‘Give A Little Dub’ (feat. Bunna).
.jpg)