Here’s a little warm-up for the weekend: A pumpin’, pushin’ and ass-kickin’ mix full of House music. I included both remixes of classics as well as a few fresh tracks. Enjoy!

Tracklist:

1. Strip Steve – Breakin’
2. Olaf Basoski – NGOM
3. 45th Street – Adrenalin
4. Gimbal&Sinan – Take Off
5. Roger Prinz – Freak Like (Ron Paul Mix)
6. Urban Shakedown & Micky Finn – Some Justice (Super Mal Remix)
7. Soul Of Man – Dirty Waltzer (Trouble Soup!! Remix)
8. Slyde – We Love It
9. The Ting Tings – That’s Not My Name (Soul Seekerz Dirty Dub Vox Mix)
10. Mihell – Don’t Mean Shit
11. Powers That Be – Planet Rock

Then there’s “Some Justice” by Urban Shakedown & Mickey Finn. If you listen to the original, it might be a little hard to understand what’s so great about this track. However, this particular style (Breakbeat House / early UK Hardcore / Oldschool Breaks) was pretty popular in the early 90s and also got me hooked to electronic music. I am still glad that there is a more recent remix though – I guess it’s a “you had to be there”-thing.

There are also a few fresh tracks in here, such as the awesome “Dancin’” by Strip Steve or “Take Off” by a fabulous newcomer duo called Gimbal&Sinan . I really like their productions for being very playful and well-produced, and I think they have a lot of potential.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paxsimius/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

I buy a lot of music online, mostly through iTunes, but also through specialized electronic music download shops such as Juno Download, Beatport or Trackitdown.

However, I recently discovered Whatpeopleplay, and I really like some of the ideas behind that particular shop. Apart from the usual goodies such as genre lists or a flash player, they also offer quite a few social features that make it even more fun to shop for music. For example, you can create your own charts, publish them and share them in your blog.

While this is certainly not revolutionary, I think this demonstrates a little twist in online shopping: While real-world shopping is often a social experience, its online equivalent is quite the contrary. As humans are social animals, it is certainly a good idea to work on that particular aspect of the online shopping experience.

Whatpeopleplay is certainly not yet the holy grail of download shops, but I like their direction.

Oh, and by the way, here’s whatIplay:

Ninca Leece delivers a very nice blend of electronic pop music with a strong House flavor. On her debut solo album “There Is No One Else When I Lay Down and Dream“, she gives a very impressive demonstration on how electronic music can sound both relaxing and danceable at the same time. This also reflects in the selection of her sounds: Spacey string sounds meet dry synths, with occasional appearances of mild distortion.

Ninca is originally from Rennes (France) and now lives in Berlin. Considering that France is currently my favorite country for electronic music (apart from the UK, but that’s a different story) and Berlin is the electronic music capitol  of Germany, it’s not really surprising that her music resonates with me.

Her concert videos also look really nice, so it’s probably a good idea to see her live on stage.

Remixes of dance classics are a type of remix that is pretty common, but often scoffed at. The reason is that the amount of necessary creativity to create such a remix is often seen as pretty small. On the other hand, many people like re-brushed versions of familiar tunes because they remind them of good times without sound out-dated. I do understand both positions, but I think there is some truth to both.

Some examples: New Order’s classic “Blue Monday” from 1983 is probably one of the biggest electronic dance anthems. I really do love that track, but if you listen to the original, you have to admit that it starts to show its age.

The original version still sounds fresh to me, but I can well understand that this does not appeal to a lot twenty-somethings who weren’t even born when this came out. However, there is a very nice remix by Hardfloor that made this great track accessible to a new generation of music lovers.

This remix is already 15 years old now – maybe it’s time for a decent 2010 remix?

One other example: The Utah Saints had a major hit with their track “Something Good” in 1991. I really liked that track when it came out, but didn’t listen to it for several years. It turns out that I didn’t miss much. The original version is a bit hard to listen to if you like current dance music. With its badly-looped “UTAH SAINTS!!!!”-shouts and a sound that has “90s” written all over it, this would hardly be a dancefloor filler in 2010. However, there is a newer 2008 remix, and it even has a funny video.

What I am trying to say here is that sound changes over time. Or to be more precise: The expectations on how a “modern” dance music track is supposed to sound changes over time. If there are no new versions of older tracks, these tracks either become timeless classics (it happens, but it’s very rare) or are more or less forgotten and only appreciated by those who were young when the track was released.

In a way, a “recycling remix” is a way to explain a great track to a new generation of music lovers. Doing a remix like that means translating an idea from the language of the past to the language of the present.

Many people believe that art is something that should be valued by preserving it in its original state. I believe this isn’t quite true. To prevent a piece of art from being forgotten, you have to re-imagine and re-interpret it again and again. In a way, remixing a dance classic is a way of paying respect and preserving it.

As I already mentioned in my last post, I re-discovered Drum&Bass last year. I was always a fan of broken beats, but for a while, I had the impression that not much was happening in Drum&Bass any more. I was wrong, and I discovered a few really great tracks last year that I just had to make a mix of.

There is also quite a bit of snow here in Cologne right now. If it’s the same wherever you are, this might actually make a perfect soundtrack for your own snowball fight.

Tracklist:

1. Hilltribe vs. Staple Singers – Going Away (Hilltribe Mix)
2. Mathematics – Get Up
3. Icicle – That Tune
4. DJ Marky, Jenna G, M.I.S.T. & XRS – Sunshine (Touch Me)
5. Phoneheads – Roll That Stone
6. Lynx – Heat Haze
7. Stakka Bo – Here We Go (Gimbal & Sinan Remix)
8. Brookes Brothers – Tear You Down
9. DJ Fresh – Hypercaine
10. Calvin Harris – Ready For The Weekend (High Contrast Remix)
11. M.I.A. – Paper Planes (Calculon Remix)
12. Snow – Informer (Gimbal & Sinan Remix)
13. Kawan – Bikram Singh & Gunjan (Drum&Bass Remix)

Nerditional Information:
There are two tracks in that mix that were big hits in my early teenage years: Snow’s “Informer” and “Here We Go” by Stakka Bo. While I cannot listen to most tracks from that time without suffering, those two were actually some of the better ones. As both were remixed by Gimbal&Sinan, I assume that those guys feel the same way.

I also included “Roll That Stone“, an older track by the German Drum&Bass legends known as Phonehads. I only mention that they are from Germany because Drum&Bass is so UK-centered that it’s remarkable when there are successful acts outside of the UK.

Talking about the UK: If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t miss the awesome dance video to DJ Fresh’s “Hypercaine”! And if you like this style, check out one of UK’s finest DnB labels Breakbeat Kaos, home to a few of my favorite DnB-artists right now.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jickel/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

When a year ends, there are always dozens of polls about everyone’s favorites for the last year. I have to admit that I enjoy that kind of polls, especially when it’s about music.

Here are my favorite artists for 2009. Please feel free to share your favorites in the comments!

1. Fever Ray
Fever Ray is the solo project of The Knife’s singer Karin Dreijer Andersson. Her music is hard to descripe, but very, very fascinating. If you ever have the chance to see her on stage, don’t miss that! It’s a truly magical experience.

2. Gossip
I know they have been around for a while, but I was totally unaware of how good they really are until I saw them on stage last year. Very powerful live performance! And Gossip’s last Album “Music for Men” kicks more than just one ass!

3. Parov Stelar
He’s the master of many styles. From smooth downbeat grooves to funky dancefloor bangers – Parov Stelar can do it all, and he does it with style.

4. Simian Mobile Disco
Many artists who are good at creating great dancefloor tunes fail when they try to create a whole album that’s also good to listen to at home. Simian Mobile Disco are one of the few artists who excel in great dancefloor material as well as in catchy pop tunes.

5. The Prodigy
The Prodigy were probably the most influential band for me when I was a teenager. I was happy to see that their latest album “Invaders Must Die” finally took them back to their old greatness.

6. Chase & Status
I had totally mistaken Chase&Status for “yet another Dubstep artist”, but when I heard their remix for Nnekas “Heartbeat” on the radio, they caught my interest. I always like it when an artist can cover more than one style, and they definitely shine in Dubstep, Drum&Bass and even Funky Breaks (see below).

7. Malente
Malente is a genius in delivering dancefloor anthems with a certain twist. Both his remixes and his own productions made it into a few sets of mine in 2009.

8. Sub Focus
2009 was the year that let me re-discover Drum&Bass. I have loved fast, broken beats for a long time, but somehow didn’t keep track of what was happening for a while. Sub Focus‘ superb single “Rock It” was one of the tracks that showed me Drum&Bass is still alive & kicking.

9. The Crystal Method
Artists like The Crystal Method were the top choice for action movie soundtracks in the 90s. I always felt that there was more to this kind of music than just serving as a side dish to a movie, and Crystal Method have proven that they are still creative.

10. Jetlag Digital
Jetlag Digital is not actually an artist, but a Progressive House/Trance label. However, I wanted to mention them here since their sound has influenced me a lot in 2009. They just deliver great electronic dance music all the time and keep me wondering how just two guys (Shane and Hyline) can get so many artists from around the world together.

This mix is all about electronic music with a rock attitude. Expect headbanging tunes with a dancefloor appeal!

Tracklist:

1. Make The Girl Dance – Baby Baby Baby
2. The Qemists feat. Mike Patton – Lost Weekend (Killer on the Dancefloor)
3. Mando Diao – Down In The Past (Moonbootica Remix)
4. Bloc Party – One Month Off (Filthy Dukes Remix)
5. Cassius – Youth Speed Trouble Cigarettes (Cassius Reset Trouble Remix)
6. Moguai – Tonight
7. Klaxons – Golden Skans to Interzone (So Me Remix)
8. Goose – British Mode (Jester Remix)
9. Nu Coalition – Born For The Nightlife (Aston Shuffle Remix)
10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Head Will Roll (A-Trak Remix)
11. S’Express – Stupid Little Girls (Eon’s Blacklist Remix)
12. Justice – D.A.N.C.E. (MSTRKRFT Remix)

Nerditional Information: Do you remember S’Express? Yes, that is the dance music act that had a major hit with “Theme From S’Express” in 1988. I didn’t even know they were still active, but apparently they released a single called “Stupid Little Girls” on Kitsuné in 2007 – and that one’s actually pretty good!

Another artist that I hadn’t heard from in a while is Mike Patton, former singer of Faith No More. After leaving Faith No More, he released a couple of interesting, but also very strange records from Mr Bungle, Phantomas and other obscure projects. Nevertheless, he is a truly great vocalist, and I was happy to hear his cooperation with the truly talented Qemists .

Oh, and there is also a very interesting….errr…..”social experiment” by Make The Girl Dance that was “documented” in video form (NSFW!).

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29051967@N03/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

There is one particular style of electronic music that I kept picking up again and again throughout my life as a music lover: The combination of typical rock music elements (distorted guitars, real drums etc.) with electronic beats.

For a few years, this combination has been known as Indietronic – or at least that’s how people typically refer to it here. And this is the real reason why I am writing this blog post: I somehow got the impression that Indietronic is not yet understood as a style of its own by many people. For example, try searching for Indietronic DJ sets on platforms like play.fm or mixcloud. You will probably find something, and there actually are quite a few DJs who have specialized on this, but just compare it to other electronic music genres like, say, Tech House. See what I mean?

Let’s listen to a few examples: The obvious way to create Indietronic sounds is to remix songs from Indie Rock bands. There are quite a few good examples for this, like this Bloc Party-remix.

There are also quite a few artists who don’t need a remix to sound like that.
Example: Goose – “British Mode”.

The interesting thing is that Indietronic seems to appeal to both fans of rock music as well as electronic music – but the DJs who are playing that sound are (based on my personal impression) mostly coming from a  rock background. This is not a bad thing, it just means those DJs have a different attitude towards DJing.

While seamless mixing is absolutely critical to many electronic DJs, many rock DJs just try to play good music, one song after the other. From my point of view, this is perfectly ok, but it means less recognition from people with a strong electronic music background.

So getting back to my original question: Why is Indietronic not as universally recognized as other electronic music genres, even though there are many good releases and DJs playing that sound? I think it’s just the mixing. Indietronic is harder to mix for DJs, because tracks are typically shorter and do not always come in DJ-friendly extended versions. As a consequence, many Indietronic DJs do not mix at all, get less attention from the electronic music scene and therefore get less visibility.

However, I can only speak based on my impressions from Cologne and what I read and see on the internet. Do you agree with me? Or have I missed something?

Anyway, let’s just listen to some more music.

I have been a fan of the label Etage Noir (particularly Parov Stelar) for quite a while now. They release a great fusion of jazz, swing and electronic beats that’s still danceable and not just generic downbeat lameness.

However, I recently learned that they re-activated their sub-label Etage Noir Special and are aiming for a couple of new releases in 2010. They describe their style as “Electro House”, but their stuff seems to be much more interesting than your typical cheesy bigroom Electro House.

There’s also this amazing video for Saint Pauli’s “I Need Rhythm”. It was relaeased in 02/2009 already, but I have totally missed this one. It takes the ideas of contemporary urban street art (-> Banksy) even one step further. Enjoy!

Tracklist: