Vangelis - Soil Festivities

I grabbed this in a charity shop last year but I've only recently given it some time. I'm glad I have though, as it's a beautiful album. Released in 1984, the album is split into five Movements. It all begins with the sound of thunder and rainfall. Synthesized strings keep a steady pulse, accompanied by some dreamy keys and trills from what sounds like a recorder. Following this are lots of synth washes and lovely chord progressions, then some nice Blade Runner-esque lead. There are also occasional flourishes of oriental percussion. The mood is sombre and conjours up icey scenes in my head (I am reminded of the 'ice area' music from classic videogames like Final Fantasy VII and Secret of Mana). I did write some more about the other movements, but it sounded like a pompous Pitchfork review. Just take a listen to the long extract from Movement 1 and track down the full LP if you like what you hear. There is a nice review on the Vangelis Movements website if you do want to read more about it.

Vangelis - Soil Festivities Extract: Zshare | YSI

Lite Me Up!

I know we had some Herbie Hancock here recently, but I don't think you can have too much. I put Motor Mouth on by chance last week and can't stop listening to it. I love the way that from the first bar - just four beats - you know it's going to be an awesome track. The effortless shuffle that starts after the opening drum roll, the bassline made of pure funk, the little synth lines, those great disco string stabs and the wonderfully loose guitar hooks; it all fits together perfectly. The lyrics are quite nice too, with Herbie bemoaning some gossip queen or another in the verse. He is joined in the chorus by some female vocals and the vocoder is wheeled out again in the bridge. As the track progresses, flute flourishes compliment the groove, brass stabs join the strings and there is a short synth solo.

Herbie Hancock - Motor Mouth Zshare | YSI

Released on CBS in 1982, Lite Me Up is a very solid LP of smooth disco-funk. Gettin' To The Good Part is particularly notable, with its sweet chord progressions and sexy mood. Also look out for the big and bold Can't Hide Your Love. With the exception of 2 tracks, it was produced by Herbie himself. A large part of the song-writing (including Motor Mouth) was done by Rod Temperton, probably most famous for his contributions to the early Michael Jackson albums. So if you like the style of Off The Wall then you could do far worse than grabbing a copy of this. Should be cheap too!

Compost

Post-Christmas I afforded myself some time to catch-up on music I left behind in 2007. Top of the list was to buy a bunch of compilations from some of my favourite labels. The Black Label series is a showcase for Compost to release songs for the dance floor and thus Compost Black Label Series Vol. 2 brings together a bunch of 12" released within the last year.

So given what I've heard from Compost in the past, I expected something prehaps minimal with a jazzier edge - I didn't really expect it to be full of groovy techno joints, deep NY-disco vibes and just damn funky, house!

‘The Clap’ opens with the cheesy, tongue-in-cheek cries of “Everybody got the clap!” setting the scene for a bunch of similarly knowing tracks. 'Chicago' carries on the retro feeling with squelchly bassline and funky guitar coda:

Shahrokh Sound of K - Chicago (Alt. Link)

The track that really caught my imagination is Phreek Plus One's 'Lazer Rock' – snythy distorted basslines propelled along by a chugging rhythm, resulting in a deep and foreboding techno tip:

Phreek Plus One - Lazer Rock (Alt. Link)

Elsewhere there are a couple of corking Zwicker tracks that keep the minimal, but light, techno vibe going, 'Lazise' which wouldn't sound of place on a Wipeout soundtrack, 'A&R' brings a little hip-hop mixed with Justice-esq. grandiose, and 'Your Rolling Hills' which brings that little bit of jazz I expected.

Highly recommended. Now to go and purchase the first volume...

Buy at Amazon or Juno.
Buy individual tracks at Juno Download or Bleep.

The Blandford Superfly

There is some debate over at Innersounds (who recently featured a nice little piece about us, thanks Jez) as to which version of The Blandford Superfly by House of 909 is best. The choices are simple, on the A-side is DJ Q's Smoke-Filled Room Dub and on the flip is Trevor Loveys' original. They really couldn't be more different; the original being a jazz-funk monster, whilst DJ Q does his trippy tech-house thing. Now as much as I like the dub and its relentless deep pulsating bassline and dreamy key loops, it just doesn't stand out enough from a lot of other house tracks from the time. The original though, is in a world of its own. For starters, there's those lovely crisp beats. There's also some nice live bass and guitar work featured. Add to that an abundance of rhodes and synth noodling over the funky groove and we're well on our way. It really doesn't sound like much else I've heard, certainly not in recent years. Check it out, then head over to Innersounds to listen to the dub and decide for yourself.

House of 909 - The Blandford Superfly.mp3

The Sound Of Light

The Field's debut album "From Here We Go To Sublime" managed to appeal to a variety of listeners from the electronic music world and beyond. Some felt is was too simple, too repetitive; others found these things to be the very reason it was so good. Axel Willner's use of tiny looped samples and multiple layers of rhythmic and melodic sounds has defined his style and although the new EP doesn't stray far from his previous work, it still feels like a development. Currently an iTunes exclusive EP, "The Sound of Light"contains an hour of new material spread over 4 tracks. Morning feels instantly familar with its melodic piano and vocal hooks tweaked in a typical way. Day has an almost Italo Disco bounce to it at first, although it builds to become almost Progressive House (done in The Field style of course). Evening is probably the best track on the EP, with plenty going on throughout (listen on Myspace). It's warm and melodic, working its way up from a micro-house beat to swirling peak-time track. The samples are annoyingly familiar to me so if anybody can put me out of my misery, please do! Final track Night has no real beat to it at all. Instead it relies on the pulsating Trance like chord sequences to push the track forward. You keep expecting it to evolve into a monster, but subtlety manages to hold out and the tracks beauty and euphoric melody are a great way to close the EP.

Extract from The Field - Night: Zshare | YSI

Buy "The Sound of Light EP" from iTunes
Buy "From Here We Go To Sublime" from Amazon
The Field on Myspace

Not sure how long I will keep this up for, but I thought I'd try keeping a note of my recent purchases because a) it will help me keep track of how much music I am buying, and b) be an easy recommendation type post to write for the blog! Let me know if you think it's a shit idea!

Phalangius - The Cambridge Library Murders //Strange Life CDR
This is another alias of Legowelt, whose Strange Life label put out a bunch of good albums last year - mostly synthesizer heavy, dark/ambient soundtrack type material. The samples from this album sound fantasic (check Snowman Theorem in particular) so I'm looking forward to hearing the whole LP when it arrives.

The Whitest Boy Alive - Burning/24K //Modular 7"
Bought this one for the b-side, a cover of Morgan Geist's 24K from his solo EP "Super". Nice lazy sounding live disco.

Bob Sinclar - Live at the Playboy Mansion (part 2) //Defected 2x12"
I didn't really like the mix album as much as I'd hoped I would considering the tracklisting (anybody wanna buy the cd off me - good price guaranteed!). I picked this up on a whim the other day as it features quite a few of the stand out tracks unmixed.

Gladio - Hadrian's Wall EP //Mighty Robot MP3
The new EP from Legowelt (again) is fucking immense. It's 5 tracks of raw techno/electro mayhem, really dark and intense stuff. "Fighting In The North" pumps out some proper deep bass stabs and thumping beats. "Centurion" sounds like Blade Runner on acid, turn it up loud and wait for random parts of your body start to twitching; trips me right out. Even the tribute track to "Time Team" rocks hard.

E.R.P. - Alsoran EP //Frantic Flowers MP3
E.R.P. - Untitled EP //Downlow MP3
E.R.P. - Vox Automation EP //Frustrated Funk MP3
E.R.P. was an artist that featured heavily in the 2007 CBS Top 100. AKA Gerard Hanson/Convexion, there are 2 more releases I've not yet heard under the E.R.P. alias, but I was happy to snap these 3 up from Boomkat for a few quid. Really deep and lush Electro, recommended.

Dexter - I Don't Care //Clone MP3
Shirley Lites - Heat You Up (Melt You Down) Gerd 4Lux Edit //Clone MP3
The Other People Place - Sorrow & A Cup Of Joe //Clone MP3
A few other random Electro/Italo tracks taken from Clone compilation albums.

Barbara Tucker - Stay Together (Original Vocal Mix) //Strictly Rhythm MP3
Just some old 90's House track that I've always liked in MAW/DJ Camacho mixes, but never owned.

Herbie Hancock

I treated myself to a USB turntable with some money I got for Christmas so I've been going through the bargain bins and charity shops trying to find some hidden vinyl gems then ripping to MP3.

I picked this Herbie Hancock 12" up earlier today for a couple of quid, mainly as the A-Side "You Bet Your Love" is one of my favourite disco tracks ever - this being a slightly extended disco version different to the ones I've heard before. I was interested by the flip too which I wasn't familiar and it definitely exceeded my expectations. Think Sly Stone's Thank You For The Music covered by Parliament for an idea of the sound:

Herbie Hancock - Ready or Not (Disco Version) : YouSendIt

I've just bought the original album from Ebay too, I'll be skint before the new year starts at this rate :)

Clouds Across The Moon

Here are a couple of 80's records I've picked up lately. Both are fairly cheesey, but that doesn't stop either of them being great. Rah Band - Clouds Across The Moon has a beautiful chord progression and of course, I dig that whole space vibe! Produced by Richard A. Hewson, with vocals from his wife Liz; it became a top 10 hit back in 1985. I was initially attracted to the dub style Super Nova Mix but I'm starting to prefer the full vocal now. Great sleeve art too!

Rah Band - Clouds Across The Moon.mp3
Rah Band - Clouds Across The Moon (Super Nova Mix).mp3

Mr Telephone Man was released in 1984 by male vocal group New Edition, featuring a young Bobby Brown. Produced by Ray Parker Jr and and featuring some nice synth work, it's a straight up pop track about a girl ignoring a guys phone calls. Check out the cringe-worthy video. On the flip side is Delicious, a smooth slice of electro-soul with great chords and some nice vocal harmonies which are used to end the track accapella style.

New Edition - Delicious.mp3

Possible Worlds

I've been after this remix EP from The Shamen for years. I couldn't even find an mp3 of Possible Worlds - Stick, which I'm pleased to say still sounds fantastic at least 5 years since I last heard it and over 15 years since its release. Trippy, acid soaked early tech-house with lush synth pads, a nice rolling bassline and excellently programmed beats.

The Shamen - Possible Worlds (Stick).mp3

As a bonus, there are two decent mixes of Make It Mine on the second 12" from Moby. The Deep Mix is lovely floaty stuff but I think I'd prefer it without the vocals. The Dub Mix drops most of the vocals, but loses the deep and floaty feeling due to the more energetic beat, as used in Outlander - Vamp.

The Shamen - Make It Mine (Moby's Deep Mix).mp3
The Shamen - Make It Mine (Moby's Dub Mix).mp3

Metro Area 7

Metro Area 7 is finally with us and what a treat it is! Lead track Read My Mind features vocals from Philip Owusu (of Owusu & Hannibal fame) and strings from Kelley Polar. Taking inspiration from the 80's electronic disco style, the track is an upbeat and punchy song, sounding exactly like the sum of its parts. As you would expect from Morgan & Darshan, the production is immaculate. The beats are tight, the bass bounces beautifully, Polar's string arrangements are lush and Owusu's vocal works brilliantly over the synthetic groove. Available in vocal and instrumental flavours, as well as the RMM Special Dub - it's bound to please fans both old and new.

On the flip side, Metro Area go cosmic with the track Erodyne. The synthesisers really get a good workout here, with plenty of arpeggio's flying around, warm chord progressions and a couple of spaced out solo's. It's another exquisite slice of electronic disco and a natural progressions of the Metro Area sound. Available on 12" and mp3 (the Read My Mind instrumental is an exclusive digital track) from all good stores right now. Buy it, listen to it, love it; and hope another album isn't too many years down the line! You can stream the 4 original tracks in full at Boomkat. Below you will find a cheeky little re-edit I did this afternoon, taking sections from the vocal and the dub. Enjoy!

Metro Area - Read My Mind (acidbearboy supercombo edit) - Removed by request.