Caravan Palace - Panic [Embassy Of Music Promo]

ElectroSwing, GypsyJazz und der von mir gern spasshaft so geschimpfte Zigeunertechno gelten vielerorts als Sound der Stunde, bescheren Veranstaltern volle Häuser und liessen auch das Erstlingswerk der Formation Caravan Palace laut Presseinfo mehr als 150.000 Mal über den Ladentisch wandern. Ein Erfolg, der in ähnlicher Weise wohl auch dem jüngst veröffentlichten Nachfolger „Panic“ blühen könnte, kombiniert er doch anfangs genannte Elemente mit klassischem und hochgepitchtem Swing und trifft damit den sogenannten Nerv der Zeit. Ebendieser geht dem Rezensenten aber nach spätestens 2 Songs ganz gehörig auf den Sack, sorgt in seiner comichaften Überdrehtheit für gewaltig schlechte Laune und das Bedürfnis als Gegenmittel hintereinander mindestens zwei LPs von Merzbow oder V/Vm zu hören – bei maximaler Lautstärke. Falscher Ansprechpartner, daher kein Recall. Furchtbare Musik.

0 Points (of 10)

Another lost review originally written for FAZE Magazine.

Stuff that is featured in the forthcoming print issue of FAZE Magazine includes my column "That's More To Life Than..." plus reviews on recent releases by Amon Tobin, A Thousand Vows, DAT Politics, Still Flyin' and MitteKill - watch out..

Mission Accomplished

If you don't know what these numbers are about you won't know in future times. But they mean the world to me.

Thx to Florence @ Lines & Dots for taking care

Ira Atari - Miss Progression (Piano Version)

Human Woman - Human Woman [HFN Music 017 Promo]

Forthcoming on the Hamburg-based HFN Music-imprint is the self-titled debut album of the fresh icelandic band outfit Human Woman which are on a journey exploring what their label files under the flag of Modern Electronic Pop - a fusion that can be identified as a mixture of 80s elements as there are SynthPop, Wave and a bit of PostPunk, a quantum of Funk and, to get into details, Paul Oakenfold's remixes for acts like Gary Clail or U2, all fused with elements of contemporary club music, SlowHouse and a bit of melancholia that keeps the dancefloor vibing off under one special groove that is the most unique and significant thing about Human Woman, a certain feel that is hard to describe but well recognizable, the red ribbon leading through songs like their singles "Delusional" and "Love Games" or pieces like "DDDI", the deep but anthemic "White Knight" or "Great Woman". Maybe that's the magic of Iceland they've been talking about earlier in their introduction to the world. Curious? You can see what Human Woman are all about in this video...

Audiolith - Doin' Our Thing #2 [Audiolith Promo]

Released just today as an exclusive Record Store Day / Germany gem is the newest Audiolith longplay compilation named "Audiolith - Doin' Our Thing #2" for all those vinyl lovers around. Limited to 500 copies we see a lot of our beloved Audiolith stallions contributing to this one, sing along to Ira Atari's hyper lovely "In Love" and her ULTRNX collaboration serving the second version of "Doin' Our Thing" - the first one was to be found on the labels 50th release -, dance our asses off to Bratzes "Strafplanet" or the Bondage Fairies 8bit-relick of Egotronics anthemic "Rannte Der Sonne Hinterher", dream away to Clickclickdeckers melancholia-driven "Schutzraum" and enjoy further contributions by fresh signings as there are Fuck Art, Let's Dance!, Brazed, Johnny Mauser and more... . All over a good and quite enjoyable and first of all stylewise widely varied vinyl dish that proves that Audiolith has way more to offer than the Electro- / RavePunk style the label is known for all over the place and beyond. Grab your copy - today!

Naon - Working Title [M2A Promo]

Scheduled for May 11th via M2A is Naons new five track EP simply named "Working Title". Starting off with a Future Pop / NeoGoth-like cover of Eurythmics's uber-hit "Sweet Dreams" they pave the path for their musical vision of SynthPop 2k12 which is defo kitsch-loaden and infected by the so-called FuturePop movement but still the Wiesbaden-based outfit manages to balance underground attitude and mainstream appeal right to collect fans from overground and scene levels, a thing that not many bands can do without being accused of sell-out tendencies. But as they've been musically brought up in the 80s and have been touring the 90s with their 5-piece band "Say" one might guess that their vision is for real and not an attempt to earn some quick money. Check out if you're up for Electronic Pop and Synthetic Dance Romanticism - especially "No More Lies" is the one you're about to hear on your local dancefloor more than once.

Human Woman - Love Games (Official Music Video)

"Alien Swamp" Finally To Be Released In 2012

Sometimes things take their time to happen, sometimes it takes longer to happen but finally it does. And so we're glad to announce that "Alien Swamp" the collaborational Tribe Tekno vs. Drum'n'Bass-assault of baze.djunkiii & DJ Da Cut will be officially released via Cold-Coffein-Addict Records later this year and to be found on one of their forthcoming limited underground tape compilations. And for those who haven't heard of Cold-Coffein-Addict Records yet, they've been one of the first labels to release an album of the now to be called Industrial superstar in training Xotox under this and his Böswillige Programmieranweisung and Wiederherstellungschirurgie moniker and have also been home to tape and CDr releases by the likes of Ashtar-DXD, Inapt, alexDee, Hagbard Celine, Sascha Müller and other underground activists. Watch out.

Trentemøller - My Dreams feat. Marie Fisker (official music video)

Trentemøller: My Dreams feat. Marie Fisker (official music video) from hfn music on Vimeo.

Daniel Dexter - Storm [Poker Flat Recordings 129 Promo]

Scheduled for early May on Poker Flat Recordings is the release of Daniel Dexters new three track EP named "Storm" which introduces a new feel to the labels sound, combining original sax lines with a pumping TechHouse drive and - this goes especially for the title track "Storm" and the B2-feature "Murder" - a certain, ever building dark'ish intensity that, not only due to clonky bass lines, ravey hooks and oldskool claps in the right place, transforms clubs into raves and sets primetime floors on fire. Soundwise not your average Poker Flat-release and defo not the one you'd necessarily expect on Steve Bugs very own imprint, one that might not appeal to all fans and followers in the first place but one that is a long time grower for sure and easily can stand the test of time. Also keep your ears open for the nicely irritating and very subliminal use of field recordings in "There Will Be Jazz" that once again prove Mr. Dexters excellent studio and dancefloor abilities. Quality.

21.04.2012 W.hat A.bout H.ouse @ Kulturhaus III & 70 / Hamburg

file under: True Skool House Music

decks:
baze.djunkiii [Intrauterin Recordings]

doors: 11 PM

Kulturhaus III & 70 / Anbau
Schulterblatt 73
Hamburg / Schanze
Germany

The last show @ Kulturhaus III & 70 and maybe the last ever show in Hamburg, at least the last show for quite a while. And I won't miss it.

JSt*r - Extra Playa EP [JS 017 Promo]

JSt*r, our beloved king of the MashUp scene, is back on track with a new release these days - this time hitting stores and floors as three track 12" and the contained tune named "Dancehall Kings" alone features more classic HipHop- , Reggae- and Discosamples than your average mixtape, too many to mention or pick only a few but if you've been growing up in the nineties you'll be loving this one to death. Not only for being expertly crafted like all JSt*r releases. But celebrating the quality of "Dancehall Kings" does not mean to diminish the flipside-featured pieces "Weed Anthem" and "One Life (Instrumental)" which both are dope as fuck and essential for any MashUp-DJ these days. Quality.

Straight From The Harp - GoGoGoGoGo

Seems like there's a lot of talent and a general need for PostWave-influenced DesertRock amongst scandinavian people... for what reason ever. Check.

Sean Roman - The Moan EP [Feast Records 001]

Erst die Parties, dann das Label. Interessantes Konzept, das die übliche Reihenfolge gnadenlos umdreht und jetzt mit Sean Romans „Moan EP“ die erste Katalognummer auf die Welt loslässt. Dahingestellt sei jetzt einmal, ob die Welt jetzt wirklich noch eine Platte mit harmlos-melodischem, aber durchaus solide vor sich hin groovenden TechHouse braucht, zweifelsohne erfüllen aber sowohl „Moan“ als auch „Bocuse“ die Mindestansprüche für ebensolchen und halten die Meute auf der Tanzfläche – sowohl im Club als auch auf diversen sommerlichen OpenAirs in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern oder wo auch immer. Gleiches gilt auch für die Remixes von M A N I K – wer denkt sich eigentlich in Zeiten von Google freiwillig so eine Schreibweise aus, ausser heroinabhängigen WitchHouse- und ChillWave–Projekten? – und Waifs & Stray, denen zwar die Funktionalität gut zu Gesicht steht, aber von Rezensentenseite doch die Forderung nach „Mehr Mut!“ auslösen. Gute Ausführung, aber eben auch nicht zwingend mehr.
6 Points (of 10)

A lost review I wrote for this months issue of the german print music magazine FAZE which wasn't published for unknown reasons. As I don't want it to be lost it's now published on these pages for my german readership.

Sandow feat. Alexander Scheer - Im Feuer [Major Label 055 Promo]

April 27th sees the release of another very special audio book via Major Label which is also a kind of an artist album as the Punk-/Avantgarde-related band Sandow reflects their 30 years of history with this one, from their very beginnings observed by the so-called Stasi in the eastern part of Germany behind a wall of concrete that once separated the GDR from its western counterpart through the re-unification years, from friendship to love affairs, real and / or pretended pregnancies, a journey from suffering times to fame to art and deconstruction, from theatre to club stages and back again, an ensemble of personal snapshots from a long lasting history, a story of euphoria and tragedy and defo a new and interesting way of documenting what has happened from a very personal, authentic and - for sure - also subjective point of view that is still able to please not only fans but also people that haven't heard of Sandow before. Psychedelicly arranged and realized by Kai-Uwe Kohlschmidt, author, composer and, apart of this, singer of Sandow himself.

baze.djunkiii Charts 04/2012... And Some Changes

Well, thoughts have progressed after my "Change Of Focus"-post about five weeks ago and the idea of stepping back from DJ'ing apart from a few challenging - or very well paid - occasions became more and more concrete which also will affect the monthly chart posts which have - in the past - been reflecting only new music and fresh or upfront promo material but will, from now on, also reflect and feature stuff that might be a bit older, long sought after findings or stuff that I haven't been aware of yet. Also CD, CDr or tape releases might find their way into the monthly top ten now as there's no need to focus on only DJ-friendly formats. But still - no mp3 and other digital releases will be found, still fully supporting the physical thing and no virtual data stuff.

01. Reptile Youth - Speeddance [HFN Music 013 Promo]
See review for details...

02. Trentemöller - My Dreams [In My Room 008 Promo]
See review for details...

03. Alex Niggemann - Don't Wait [Poker Flat Recordings 128 Promo]
See review for details...

04. Dillon - This Silence Kills [BPitch Control 244]
An album of amazing beauty which I discovered @ Meine Kleinraumdisko / Hamburg, a tiny sweet bar which is one of my favorite places to hang out especially at their bi-weekly "Plattentest"-sessions where staff and friends play whole albums to each other, discussing, chatting and drinking. I was touched by the innocent and partly Björk'esque vibe lying within Dillons voice - hadn't heard of her before and I was quite surprised that an album fragile and inspiring like this was put on the circuit via BPitch Control, a label that I haven't been following since around 2005 and even before that time I bought only three 12" from their massive catalogue, the last one being Paul Kalkbrenners " Gebrünn Gebrünn / Tatü-Tata" which imho is the only relevant thing he ever put out. But no matter what "This Silence Kills" is the exception from the norm and I've been listening to this album minimum a dozen of times within the last week alone. Great!

05. Wolfgang Voigt - Rückverzauberung 6 [Magazine 007]
The Magazine label strikes again with the second great release within only a few weeks. One might refer to this one as a sequel of Wolfgang Voigts Profan 034 release which featured the kind of neo-classical "Rückverzauberung 2" but "Rückverzauberung 6" is defo a darker sequel. Parts "6.1" and "6.2" are based upon processed, eerie choirs and Drone / Dark Ambient flavours and not meant for those with a weak heart whilst part "6.3" is a dark Drone piece built on top of a technoid 4/4 hidden in the very background of the general mixdown providing a dancefloor feel for non-existing dancefloors of a sci-fi past. Recommended.

06. Ninety Three / Swampman [Bullfrog 006]
Two heavy pieces on Cluekid's very own Bullfrog label. "Ninety Three" is a top notch Jungle tune that, apart from higher production standards, could've been crafted in 1993 as the name suggests and blows everyone's hat off with its m-a-s-s-i-v-e sub bass dropping in the last third. Back to the oldskool - right now and forever. "Swampman" on the flip is a dark, hypnotic halftime Dubstep workout that reminisces about the great times around 2005 / 2006, albums like Distance's "My Demons" and other seminal and likeminded pieces of that era. This is darkness.

07. Vivian Girls - I Heard You Say [Polyvinyl Record Company]
A 2011 release and another great record I discovered while hanging out Meine Kleinraumdisko - foggy, hippie'esque and innocent Lo-Fi Indie Pop with hyper-lovely, totally drugged out vocals that totally got me the first time I heard them. And I never stopped listening ever since. In german there's the almost non-translateable word "niedlich" that totally fits on this 7". Buy blindfolded if you're able to find a copy.

08. Sascha Müller - Shit Music [Pharmacom Records]
See review for details...

09. Kasper Björke - Fool [HFN Music 014 Promo]
See review for details...

10. I Heart Sharks - Summer / Aerobics [AdP Records]
See review for details...

Sticker Love & World Domination: Berlin

Another one was travelling to Germanys capital lately - stickposted and captured by my friend Hanna. Big up.

Sticker Love & World Domination: Hannas Laptop

A sticker on a laptop is not that special at all but this piece seems to be travelling a lot so it's defo worthwile posting it. On the run...

Amazing Italics

"As a kid, it was always the concept of italics that got me. I couldn't produce them on my typewriter and even later when I started writing for newspapers, I would still have to underline stuff for the printer to know that it should be in italics. But only a professional typesetter could really do that. Then I saw the Macintosh computer while writing an article for Rolling Stone. I remember we all gathered around this thing in the office and were blown away by how you could set something in italics with a simple mouse click."

I stumbled upon these lines in the recent, meaning Spring 2012, issue of Electronic Beats Magazine on page 71, spoken or skyped out by Steven Levy when communicating with Rick Holland and, as I've been meeting some people recently that were born in the early to mid-90s and naturally grew up with all that power that computers and the internet and mobile communication provides today, which made me think about being a part of the last generation that really knows about and experienced the pre-digital era in their youth. I wonder if they're missing something.