Sunday, October 30, 2005

Coke DJ Culture No. 11

Part eleven of the ongoing Coke DJ Culture-series is on tour in november - this time representing an all-female lineup featuring Andrea Parker, Suzi Wong and Barbara Hallama on the decks, which are to cover a musical spectrum from HipHop to Techno to Grime, Booty Bass, Electro and freestyle Breakbeats throughout 6 upcoming nights in several german cities.

Andrea Parker is known to followers of contemporary electronic music for her releases on James Lavelle's former Mo' Wax-imprint as well as her own label Touchin Bass crossing borders between Electro/Ghettobass and more abstract Electronica, whilst Suzi Wong has been joining the Coke DJ Culture-tribe before supporting Blake Baxter & Juan Atkins on their journey through german clubs. Barbara Hallama has been DJ'ing since the early 90s - playing straight Techno stuff @ Munich's Ultraschall and working for Disko B, later holding a freestyle residency @ Hamburg's legendary Tempelhof club [R.I.P.] for a while and now based in Berlin, spinning Grime, HipHop, Jungle and similar @ her "Local Ghetto Nights", often alongside international guests...


COKE dj-culture No. 11 presents:
Andrea Parker, Suzi Wong & Barbara Hallama

Tourdates:

10. 11. Berlin, Raumklang
11. 11. Bochum, Sandbar Club
12. 11. Hamburg, Halo

17. 11. München, Zerwirk
18. 11. Frankfurt, Walden
19. 11. Halle/Saale, Volkspark

We're able to get three of you folks + a friend on the guestlist for the annnounced date in Hamburg - if you want to join the party for free just send a mail to "win(at)nitestylez(dot)de" with your full name until 9th of november and wait for confirmation.

Bunker Records: Stalingrad Vol. 1 & 2

Den Haag's Bunker Records catalogue numbers 3040/3041 reveal two massive pieces of vinyl named "Stalingrad Vol. 1 & 2" - subtitled "Der Krieg - Der Wahnsinn" - dealing with the matter of human suffering at the 1943 Stalingrad battle throughout WWII, which are a must have for all followers of Dark Ambient, Industrial Elektro, Rhythm Industrial, Experimental Techno and Acid. According to Global Darkness both pieces are limited to 200 pieces so I bet they gonna be sold out and regarded as collectors items soon due to their top notch musical quality which one can guess even by reading the full artist roster & tracklistings.

BUNKER 3040

STALINGRAD VOL.1 - Das beste Stahl...

A1 Franck Sarrio - Prelude des Böses
A2 Subliminal Criminal - Frischer, fröliger Krieg
A3 AU - Hinter den Elbe fangt Asien an
A4 Duracel - Sieg oder Bolschewismus

B1 Nimoy - Schönheit gibt's nur im Kampf
B2 Syncom Data - Armee der Leere
B3 Rude 66 - Die Stärke der vernichtenden Schläge
B4 Hank - Endlösung der Menschenfrage


BUNKER 3041

STALINGRAD Vol. 2: Bis am Ende dieser Welt

C1 Orgue Electronique - Die Liebe ist die größte Kraft
C2 Kassen - ...Und der Schnee geduldig
C3 Mr. Clavio - Keine Gnade für die Sechste
C4 DJ Technician vs. Kneues - Schleichen heisst überleben

D1 SWM - Bombenteppich
D2 Leviathan - Der Tag des Urteils
D3 Legowelt - Von Paulus Symphonie in D mineur
D4 Schmerzlabor - Die Truppen marschieren


Although there might be concerns about a use of tracknames inspired by WWII propaganda and slogans used to convince soldiers to persevere on the battlefield I think it's clear - not only 'coze Bunker's comes from a Punk & squat background - that those two records are a total anti-war-orientated statement.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Parts in the post, pt. 15

More stuff from the promo circuit today...

German label Zeitgeist comes up with new remixes of Discoblaster's "Fading" which is a sureshot for lovers of more commercial peaktime ElectroHouse. Yes, sampling Roxette's "Fading Like A Flower" is cheesy but sometimes I even dig stuff like this although I'm not sure when or where to play that out yet. On remix duties we have The Disco Boys and Steve Murano which do by far a better job than the original Discoblaster-tune does.

Another remake of a classic Pop tune is Groove Agents' "Come Back And Stay" out on EDM Music / Zeitgeist. Once again it is love or leave it and nothing in between. I'd recommend to leave the crap B2 "House Mix" alone and rely on the "Club Mix" and "Extended Mix" if you're spinning tunes in a more commercial club environment.

Hamburg-based Audiolith Records have scheduled their 17th release for november 28th, a four tracker by The Dance Inc. named "All Is Lost" which will cause a bit of trouble on ElectroHouse-, Electroclash- and Indie-Dancefloors. A-side tracks "Catpurr" and "Catpurr RMX" as well as "All Is Lost" on B1 are based on a phat pumpin' 4/4-beat with SynthPop-like vox on top, whilst B2-track "For Those Who Sleep On Roads" is more kind of a deep ballad recommended for those who like the melancholic moments of Depeche Mode etc. .

Another fresh label from Hamburg is Rudel Records which are coming up with cat.no. 001 by Cut'n'Lupuz in early 2006 but have the first whitelabels on the circuit right now. Title track "Fake Democracy", which is also available as bonus instrumental here, fuses Drum'n'Bass and Reggae-like offbeats with political HipHop whilst "Drags Of Economy" presents dark hypnotic HipHop-athmospheres and "Redefined" on B1 spreads big time party vibes for those who still remember that HipHop has been created as music to dance to in its early years - massive guitar samples and bouncy beats to be found here... BAM!

Kraftwerk: "Minimum-Maximum [DVD]"

German Electro-pioneers Kraftwerk's new DVD "Minimum-Maximum", featuring live footage and concert outtakes shot throughout the same-titled tour, is due to be released via EMI on december 5th. Due to this a number of release-parties are scheduled at following dates + more to come.

KRAFTWERK „Minimum Maximum“ Live-DVD Release-Parties

02.12.2005 Bielefeld – Ringlokschuppen – 9 p.m.
03.12.2005 Darmstadt – Goldene Krone – 10 p.m.
03.12.2005 Hamburg – KIR – 11 p.m.
03.12.2005 Augsburg – Kerosin – 10 p.m.
03.12.2005 Magdeburg – Factory – 10 p.m.
09.12.2005 Nürnberg – Golden Nugget – 10 p.m.
10.12.2005 Berlin – Insel – 7 p.m.
10.12.2005 Stuttgart – Röhre – 10 p.m.
16.12.2005 Erfurt – Centrum – 10 p.m.
17.12.2005 Köln – Alter Wartesaal – 10 p.m.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Parts in the post, pt. 14

Hirntrust Grind Media is a new label established on the Noise-/Experimental-circuit based in Ansfelden/Austria. Its first release is a quite limited - 290 pieces pressed up - 7" named "Ich Gegen Mich - Live Sessions 05", which is featuring two outtakes from the artists 1Bomb1Target live performances in Vienna. A-Side deals with a monstrous Noise/Dub-crossover while side B can be filed under Harshnoize vs. Break-/Speedcore power violence. Defo not the one to rinse out while dining with your new girlfriend, but great stuff for the headstrong... .

Nieder-Olm based Drum'n'Bass-imprint Intransigent Recordings have recently released their 6th 12" which features the 3rd sequel of the legendary uberhit "Schwarze Puppen", originally released on INTREC 004. The Panacea reworks and renames the infamous "Gebt sie mir wieder, meine schwarzen Puppen..."-vocals into a furious brockout called "Sohn Der Schwarzen Puppen" breaking up standard Drum'n'Bass-structures and crossovering towards 4-to-the-floor Hardcore and even Metal. Maybe the heaviest track around these days... . Flipside sees DJ G-I-S & Norman Wax teaming up for "Leatherface" which is kind of a dark roller with a ravey attitude, nice sawtooth bassline and some spooky vox samples, maybe cut out of CNN-news or sth. like that. Should work well on the dancefloor for those who aren't into the ultraviolent world of D'n'B represented by The Panacea on this 12".

Less violent music is released by Motown / Universal which have put a teaser-12" for their forthcoming "Motown Remixed"-album on the promo circuit recently. Edwin Stars anthem "War" is reworked by german producers Turntablerockers in two versions - RMX and Dub Mix -, which provide a nice House-flavored rework here that pays much respect to the original Motown-tune and is for sure the best track on this records. Unique's Ben Human takes care of Marvin Gaye & Tami Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" on B1 and stays very close to the original Soul/Funk-vibe in his remix - a sureshot for those being to the likes of Frank Popp Ensemble and such. Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" also is retreated by a guy called DJ Smash - whoever that may be - but in a quite uninspired and boring way, so this one can be left alone and will not be the one tearing up the clubs dancefloors.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Longplay love v 7.0

Straight outta Vienna's Dub Club @ Flex which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and therefore is the longest running monday's weekly in Austria or even continental Europe dealing with the whole spectrum of Broken Beats and Dub comes a new compilation named "Dub Club - Straight From The Floor". This one is to be released on the infamous G-Stone Recordings on november 18th and can be referred to as a proper sureshot, a must have for... whom? Guess this one's for everyone interested in Dub-/Ragga-related music, Breakbeats and/or Downtempo, deep basslines or - if you don't like to hop on micro-genre-bandwagons - good music. Featuring the likes of Stereotyp, Markus Kienzl ft. Paul St. Hilaire (...also known to many as Tikiman), Pressure Drop Soundsystem, OMFO, Bus ft. Ras T-Weed and more lined up for contributions plus Roots Manuva spreading introductionary words as well as Drum'n'Bass newbreed XRS on remix duty for Roberto Carlos there ain't no chance for even one bad or average track to slip in, just top notch for each and every genre being taken care of. Bonus feature: all tracks are unmixed, so one's able to enjoy the whole production from beginning to end instead of hurrying through a DJ-driven tour de force which - in some cases that is - tends to be a "look how fast I can mix through shitloads of tracks"-thingy from time to time. BigUp to all Dub Club-crew for making the effort of putting together this brillant piece and... happy birthday!

Ever heard of Parov Stelar? No? Me neither and due to this you're not alone. Anyway, this guy is to put out his new album "Seven And Storm" on Etage Noir Recordings also on november 18th, which seems somehow to be a day of good albums scheduled to be in store. To be honest I've been kind of a skeptic when I opened the envelope sitting in my P.O. box a few days ago due to the artwork being a bit too minimal, too jazz, too artsy, too cinematic at the same time. An artwork which might attract hip student geezers, nerd ad-business persons and death cool art intellectuals looking for "something special"... . Musical ingredients are special indeed but nice anyway. Kinda deep, jazz-orientated stuff, organic Downtempo-tunes - some instrumental and some featuring vocalists, very loungy inna positive sense and it sounds like played with a live band and not put together in front of a computer, based on samples of old Jazz records. Music for autumn afternoons.

Monday, October 17, 2005

22.10.05 zeitverschiebung @ u bar / hamburg

hectical [all terrain system / bielefeld]
baze.djunkiii [intrauterin recordings]
sylvana [phatlinaz / bremen]
lakin [phatlinaz / hamburg]
beeside [phatlinaz / hamburg]

file under : drum'n'bass

u bar
eimsbüttler chaussee / ecke schulterblatt
doors: 11pm
fee: 5 EU

related links
Zeitverschiebung

According to the promoters info this is gonna be the last part of the "Zeitverschiebung"-series @ U Bar, so drop by and don't miss Hectical's first ever Hamburg appearance.


Btw - for those who've been wondering what happened to the announced "Phantasy Box"-event @ U Bar on october 29th just the info that this event is cancelled on this special date, postponed to november and relocated, too. Watch out for further information...

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Grime r_port vol. 5

Kano's 12" "Nite Nite" on 679 has been around for a lil' while now but still is fresh enough to lose a few words on it. First of all it should be either entitled E.P. then 12" due to the fact that there's three different tracks on it instead of having a title track plus additional remixes, which is a good thing here as there's a bit for every lover of urban music. "Nite Nite" features Mike "The Streets" Skinner on vocals and ain't exactly Grime but a mixture of urban styles that might be called R'n'G / Rhythm'n'Grime - a term I picked up from a conversation with Phokus at Hamburg's Bernstein Bar last saturday. Another track included on this 12" is "Nobody Don't Dance No More RMX" which is a heavily piano driven 4x4/Speedgarage-tune getting a bit too cheesy here and there but defo being a women pleaser on tha dancefloor. Flipsidewise there's High Contrast providing Drum'n'Bass treatment for "Reload It" featuring Demon & D Double E as MC's. Drum'n'Bass for the masses, big time rave tune - a style I'm not that deep into, but this one I love for it's anthemic nature.

Suburban Warfare Recordings have put out their first whitelabel recently featuring one tune by Swiftee and another by DJ Greef. Whilst Swiftee serves deep, dark'n'heavy Halfstep business with a slowly pounding, paralyzing bassline and some more housy vocal snippets DJ Greef is tearing up the place with some breaky ElectroGrime that comes up with sick Metal guitar treatments plus scratch attacks. 'ardcore stuff.

Seems like guitar samples becoming more popular with Grime producers as the latest Ruff Sqwad Production "Together" is dealing with a guitar sample, too, this time taken out of Police's uberhit "Message In A Bottle". That track featuring Wiley on vox is to be found on a whitelabel with "DIRT" as matrix number so watch out for that, not only 'coze "Together" is gonna be huge but also coze there is two monstrous scifi-as-fuck riddims on the flipside which are redefining the term "darkness" for sure. Hell of scary stuff that's gonna shockfrost entire dancefloors in essential angst.

Friday, October 07, 2005

Longplay love v 6.0

The Torpedo Boyz, who have been tearing up BigBeat/Breaks-areas with their smashing debut 12" "Gimme A Bassline!" a while ago, see thier first longplayer released on Lounge Records on oct. 17th. Instead of compiling a good bunch of pure dancefloor tracks similar to their first two singles which are as well featured on the album named "Headache Music" for those who have been missing them for any reason, they decided to invite a whole lot of guest artists like AK 47, Serge Kool, Gil De Gil and others to their studio and design something different. Result? A fuckin' crazy party musically located between BigBeat/Breaks, song structures, chilled beat relaxation as well as loungy attitude and loads of organic Funk. You got friends that dislike electronic music? Play 'em this album and they'll think different.

Running time: 69 minutes. 00 seconds. Did they reach this by chance or on purpose? Talking "Boogie Angst" here which is the new album of the Netherlands-based Breakbeat-trio Kraak & Smaak which is to be out on Jalapaleno Records on nov. 11th. Known and loved for their special definition of BreakbeatPhonk by DJs like Chicken Lips, Pete Tong, Laurent Garnier plus others and - even more important - a permanently growing fanbase of consumers, DJs and party people for their releases and remixes, all off them heavily influenced by genres like HipHop, Funk, Jazz and ItaloDisco, fitting well for club as well as homelistening environments and revealing a tongue-in-cheek attitude, their first album does basicly the same what their 12"es provided. Maybe the brave followers will not need the whole CD as some of the tracks have already been out on vinyl I presume, but who ever danced to the sound of Kraak & Smaak without having decks at home will be more than happy to be able add this to his or her collection.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Parts in the post, pt. 13

D-Saw is back! Andre Winter & M. Hatzler, responsible for the massive 1996 HypnoTrance classic "Track 10:30", are coming up with their new single "Vanish" on Humate's Terrace Recordings soon, a slightly minimalistic, trancey ElectroHouse tune featuring Xenia Beliayeva on vocals which will do his duty on a groovin' early morning dancefloor. Flipside features a dub version plus a remix produced by Hamburg's Techno-pioneer Henry - remember Phax on Superstition 1994 or "One Nation Under One Housegroove" on the legendary Various Artist-compilation "St. Pauli Dance Core" ???

After a bit of absence from the label Vincenzo returns with a full 12" release on Steve Bug's Dessous Recordings, teaming up with upcoming producer Steve Ferrand for the double-A-side single "Things Like That / Love The Madness". Both tracks provide a warm thrilling athmosphere with oldskool Chicago'esque basslines influenced by the pre-Acid years when it was all about how to jack your body to the beats. Proper primetime business here, guess this'll keep the youngsters on the floor as well as driving the older clubbers on it. Guess this'll be fresh for years, one of those records not leaving my crates for a long time. BigUp!

Symbion's "Dream E.P." is cat.no. 008 of Supersix, a storming three-track E.P. of 27 minutes length which brings back the flava of the good old '94 raving days to me. This needs a big - not big: huge!!! - warehouse packed with ravers, laserbeams, proper soundsystem and stuff. If you can relate to that era due to your own bodily experience - buy it. If you can't stand hypnotic Trance inna 93/94 style - leave it alone.

08.10.2005 urban essentials @ bernsteinbar / hamburg

decks: baze.djunkiii [intrauterin recordings]

music: dubstep / sublow / grime / uk garage / urban music


people name music different names. people name it dubstep, sublow, grime or uk garage. furthermore they talk about eski, 8bar, 4x4, digisoul and instrumental hiphop.
for this night we name it URBAN and we're going to present the essence of it. due to this, this night is named URBAN ESSENTIALS.
let this journey take you from essential sublow classics by the likes of el-b and oris jay to upfront riddims straight from the heart of the grime.
join us.
now.



bernsteinbar
bernstorffstrasse 103
22757 hamburg / germany

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Longplay love v5.0

Catalogue number 011 of Pharmacom Records was released in september, featuring an excerpt of the musical work of Roman Olegov which he created from 2001 - 2005. His 2CD, one with twelve single tracks plus a bonus mixed CD, is called "After Calamity" and recommended to those being into deepest Ambient, Drones, Electroacoustics and further experiments in sound. Although his music is for sure of atonal structure it is not harsh, but of a calm and floating nature without any disturbing interruptions or noises - a good one to chill or relax to if one ain't into Easy Listening at all.

The project Speak With The Machines consisting of Sascha Müller and K. Mescher comes up with another longplay release on Super 6 Records named "Jamsessions". Don't get puzzled as their latest release on Pharmacom was entitled as "Secret Jamsessions Part 01-03" but this is a different one although they are dealing with a similar kind of music here. Once again the album is split in three parts within a total time of 50 minutes, providing live jammed cuts of experimental Electro / Electronica which work on the dancefloor - if experienced in a live context - as well as for homelisteners. If you've been appreciating the releases of the now defunct label Heimelektro Ulm Tonquellen in the late 90ies it's likely that you gonna be into the Speak With The Machines "Jamsessions", too, although they're a bit more dancefloor orientated than any of the former Heimelektro releases.

November 11th sees the release of "Music For Modern Living Blue" on Audiopharm, a double CD compiled by Lounge Records' DJ's Mellow & Rivera. Their unmixed selection covers a timespan from 1967 to 2005, including rare Soul classics as well as contemporary funk-flavored Break-/Downbeats, a variety of different music which is also found in their individual DJ-sets. Namedropping: Tom Jones, Skeewiff, Rivera Rotation , Barbara Lynn, Mark Rae, Boca 45, Quantic ft, Spanky Wilson, Malente, Pimp Daddy Nash and many more... Interesting stuff I'm able to recommend although it doesn't necessarily reflect my personal taste of music, but as there are not many compilations out these days featuring that many different stuff from various musical eras this is one to ask your local dealer for when it's coming out.