Sonar is coming!

The start of March. A time where the winter blues have been nearly overcome, a time where the state of your personal finances no longer resembles a blanket of red numbers and negative figures and a time where people plan to plunge back into a sorry state of affairs by planning their summer excursions. Sonar seems like a good idea as always for us at The Sub Level Sessions. This year the 15th Festival falls on the 19th, 20th and 21st June with a line-up which ensembles everything from all corners of the electronic music world. Expect techno, hip hop, experimental, house and anything else you could imagine in two locations under the Mediterranean sun. Not to mention the ridiculous number of parties in and around Barcelona..... Last year we had great fun and i'm sure this year will repeat of that, so book that cheap flight and get yourselves over...

Artists confirmed so far, but more to be mentioned:
CONCERTS & DJS

ANTIPOP CONSORTIUM (US)
ASSTRIO (ES)
BASQUIAT STRINGS (CH)
BC vs JC featuring DARREN EMERSON (UK)
BEN WATT (UK)
BOYS NOIZE (DE)
CABO SAN ROQUE (ES)
CAMILLE (FR)
CHLOÉ (FR)
DIPLO (US)
DJ KEY (MA)
DJ MEHDI VS A-TRAK feat. KID SISTER (FR / US)
EROL ALKAN (UK)
FRANKIE KNUCKLES (US)
GOLDFRAPP (UK)
HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR (US)
JUSTICE (FR)
KALABRESE PRES. THE RUMPELORCHESTRA (CH)
KONONO Nº1 (CD)
LITTLE DRAGON (SE)
M.I.A. (UK)
MISS KITTIN (FR)
NEON NEON (UK)
NORTHERN STATE (US)
RÓISÍN MURPHY (UK)
SPANK ROCK (US)
TARA DE LONG (US)
TENDER FOREVER (FR / US)
THE DULOKS (UK)
THE PINKER TONES (ES)
X-102 discovers THE RINGS OF SATURN (US)
YAZOO (UK)
YELLE (FR)

SHOWCASES

BBC Radio 1 presents:
MARY ANNE HOBBS (UK) DJ set
SHACKLETON (UK) live
FLYING LOTUS (US) DJ set
MALA (UK) DJ set
Programmed by Mary Anne Hobbs

DIRTY
PILOOSKI (FR) DJ set
DISCODEINE (FR) live
DIRTY SOUND SYSTEM (FR) DJ set

ED BANGER RECORDS
BUSY P. (FR) DJ set
KRAZY BALDHEAD (FR) live
SEBASTIAN (FR) DJ set

FREERANGE
JIMPSTER (UK) DJ set
MILTON JACKSON (UK) live

NINJA TUNE & COUNTER RECORDS
THE HEAVY (UK) live
DAEDELUS (US) live
THE LONG LOST (US) live

OSAKA INVASION
DJ SCOTCH EGG (JP) live
OVE NAXX (JP) live
BOGULTA (JP) live
MARUOSA (JP) live

Tracklisting 22nd February

Steve Mac, Mark Brown - 'Bells Of Brighton' [Cr2]
Inner City feat. Kevin Saunderson - 'Big Fun' (Simian Mobile Disco Rmx) [KMS]
Sultan, Ned Shepard, Maher Daniel - 'Itajai Vibes' (Wise Rmx) [Sick Watona]
Fergie - 'Anon' [Excentic Muzik]

** GUEST MIX - DJ Craze **

Beanie Sigel - 'You Ain't Ready For Me' [Rocafella]
Swiss Beats - 'Money In The Bank' [Full Surface]
Khaled - 'Holla At Me' (Instrumental) [Terror Squad/Kosh]
Freeway - 'Lights Get Low' [Rocafella]
Lil Wayne - ' M.I.A' [Terror Squad/Kosh]
Breakwater - 'Release The Beast' [Phantom Sound & Vision]
Gaz - 'Sing Sing' [Sasoul Records]
Pitbull - 'Go Girl' [TVT Records]
Connie - 'Funky Little Beat' [Sunnyview Recs]
Freez - 'I.O.U' [Streetwise]
Freez - 'I.O.U' (Dyce Freestyles's Deat Remix) [Streetwise]
Shannon - 'Give Me Tonight' [Emergency Recs]
Siedah Garret - 'Do You Want It Right Now' [Island]
Armand Van Helden - 'I Want Your Soul' (Croockers rmx) [Southern Fried]
Sexual Eruption - 'Sounds Better With You' [Geffen/Virgin]
One More Rainforest...
Treasure Fingers - 'Come True Tonight' [n/a]
M.I.A - 'Come Around' (ELI rmx) [Interscope]
The Get Funky Crew - 'Shake Them Titties' [Vision Recs]
Blaqstarr - 'Shake To The Ground' (Claude Von Stroke rmx) [Mad Decent]
Shala - 'The Great Chicago Winter' (Zebo Rmx) [n/a]
Basement Jaxx - 'Nifty' [Atlantic]

Funk D'Void Sci Fi Hi Fi, I'll Lick Your Spine, Slam Staccato Rave, Silicone Soul and Vector Lovers all Reviewed!

Soma’s been really busy this month providing my ears with plenty of new stuff, so much so I’ve been struggling to listen to it all and think up some words. But I’ve found a bit of time to crawl out of the gutter I had been occupying this Saturday to wax lyrical about Soma’s forthcoming.

Let’s start with the new Hi Fi Sci Fi compilation. Number four in the series is mixed by Scott turned Catalonian Funk D’Void. The bar has been set high, extremely high with his predecessors Ewan Pearson, Luciano and Alex Smoke all churning out sublime mixes. So what could be done do to keep pace or even set the bar higher? Funk D’Void has answered by bringing us a mix using breathy bright melodies and moods to create the energy and progression. This CD stands away from the K fuelled moody and dark but instead we are brought a distinct “happy” and melodic flavour which flies, glides and dives throughout.

On first listen I wasn’t too impressed, my exact thoughts were, “why is he playing this airy fairy shit?” Granted my first listen was during an after party binge where the K fuelled moody and dark fits in quite nicely. So ever the fair gentleman that I am, i gave the CD another go and I can say this CD really comes into its element in the right scenario. This CD is built for the wind down, the chilled out and the laid back. The intricate melodies and sweeps just suit these settings making the listener feel like a clichéd bird flying through the clouds at afternoon sunset. Serious, it really does. Deepness from H Foundation as well as Francois Dubois and Jimpster remixes add great atmosphere, whilst Apparat’s mix of Drip and Artec’s Comunickate applies intensity and edge.

If you listen to this at the right time it can be a great mix, I do wonder if Soma is releasing this bad boy too early as it is perfect for those lazy summer afternoon outside, inside or travelling about. This mix is solid and is definitely up there with the other Sci Fi Hi Fi CDs, but is it better or even the best? Not quite I’m afraid, Ewan Pearson’s and Alex Smoke’s efforts still pip it for me. However this is still a great effort and a breath of fresh air from Funk D’Void. 7/10

Lets Go Outside - I'll Lick Your Spine Mixes
Next up are the new remixes from Lets Go Outside and their track I’ll Lick Your Spine. The original was a brilliant. It was a strange and eerie work out with a very breaky feel to it, one thing that I was sure of was that it was made to make you freakout which subsequently meant it featured a lot in my record box for most of last year. For the new year the remixes come from Massi DL and Ivan Smagghe with Tim Paris as well as the original mix from Repeat Repeat. Massi DL reshapes the track into a more familiar techno form using the breathy vocals and synth stabs from the original. It is very typical sounding, but it is done well and there is no doubt it will definitely work the floor nicely.

Smagghe and Paris dish up a bass driven hip shaker of a remix. Their bassline adds an element of groove whilst still retaining some of the original acid stabs and vocals. There is a nice slow burn feel about this mix as it slowly intensifies with the use of a haunting synth. Great work from the pair. 8/10


Slam - Staccato Rave
The other release I’ve listened to recently from Soma has been from the label’s head honchos Slam. This is the single release for Staccato Rave which featured on their album Human Response last year. With the original comes mixes from Adam Beyer and Silicone Soul. Adam Beyer does what he does best and applies his style of techno, adding some intricate 909 percussion with a big rolling techno bassline whilst keeping the original computerized synth noises. Balls to the wall techno as I once heard from somewhere!

Silicone Soul adds two remixes. Their darkroom dub has a classic tribal workout on the percussion with the computer synth sounds being used to slowly layer up the intensity of the track. This mix is probably my favourite out of the lot. The Hypno House mix is a friendlier mix for I guess the “electro” house floors out there. I can see this remix slotting in easily but still standing out from the run of the mill. 7.5/10

Silicone Soul - Darkroom Dub Remixes
Whilst on the subject of Silicone Soul, they released new remixes of their darkroom dubs. The standout track on this release is definitely the Fearmakers Darkroom Dub. Rolling basslines with pounding beats make it a heads down bleeped out mover, moving away from Silicone Soul’s typical brighter production style. The Hikihiki Shake is also worth a punt. 7/10

Vector Lovers - Raumklang
And finally. Vector Lovers and his Raumklang release. Stand out tracks on this release is Derailleur’s Submission mix of Dusk Panorama and Little Plastic Figures. Derailleur’s mix is a great acid work out with classic acid squelches riding throughout and spacey pads give it its uniqueness. Little Plastic Figures pushes a round evil bass from the get go alongside pumping kick drums and intermittent echoes of haunting synths. Making it a nice dark little number. 6/10

Tracklisting 15th February

Inner City feat. Kevin Saunderson - 'Big Fun' (Simian Mobile Disco Rmx) [KMS]
Steve Mac, Mark Brown - 'Bells Of Brighton' [Cr2]
Alex Gopher - 'Aurora' (Riot In Belgium, Knightlife Rmx) [Go4Music]
Patch Park - 'Made in Mayhem' [Shinichi]
Sultan, Ned Shepard, Maher Daniel - 'Itajai Vibes' (Wise Rmx) [Sick Watona]
Thomas Schwartz - 'Jupiter Calling' [The Clubbers]
Michael & Levan - 'January Morning' (Mango Rmx) [Morphosis]
Velkro, Ido Ophir - 'Warehouse' [Sprout]
Fergie - 'Anon' [Excentic Muzik]
Rui Da Silva - 'Escaping My Mind (Matt Tolfrey & Inxec Mix) [Kismet]



****** Make A Date In Your Diary ******
*************22nd March*************

MINUS TEN @ FABRIC

Richie Hawtin
Adam Beyer
Marco Carola
Magda

Tracklisting 8th February

Sasha - 'Who Killed Sparky' [emFire]
Solaris Heights - 'No Trace' (Popof Mix) [Renaissance]
Super Flu - 'Brink' [Herzblut Records]
Sebo K - 'Far Out' [Mobilee Records]
Marshall Jefferson, Noosa Heads - 'Mushrooms' (Justin Marin Mix) [Alright]

** GUEST MIX - M.A.M.D.Y **

Sascha Funke - 'Lotre' (Mehr Fleisch Mix) [Bpitch Control]
Tim Paris - 'Window Diskow' [Marketing]
Imps aka Minilogue - 'Unkle Limps' (Turkish Version) [Mule Electronic]
Voodeux - 'The Spell' [Mothership]
Miguel Toro - 'Cure' (Oil of Mars vs. Samim Mix) [Unknown]
Todd Bodine - 'Secret Edge' [Mothership]
Livio & Robby vs. Arc - 'XY' (Terrace Mix) [Unreleased]
Gel Abril - 'Papa Dee' [Ovum]

M.A.N.D.Y Tonight!!

Oh yes, it's finally in my hands; the long, long anticipated guest mix from Get Physical's legendary co-founders, M.A.N.D.Y . And i'ts not one to miss.

With all the deep, techy and funk filled trickery that we've come to expect from the Swiss/German twosome and with more than a smattering of minimalist delights, I'd say it's been well worth the wait.

Find out for yourselves tonight on www.urfonline.com from 8pm. With new tracks from Sebo K, Super Flu, Solaris Heights and once again the awesome (if a touch quirky) 'Mushrooms' from Marshall Jefferson, it promises to be a show to remember.

Chat to you then,

Luke

Tracklisting 1st February

KIM - 'Fistogram' [Modular]
Patch Park - 'Made in Mayhem' [Shinichi]
Consistent - 'Proper Balance' [TFE Recordings]
Marshall Jefferson, Noosa Heads - 'Mushrooms' (Justin Martin Mix) [Alright]
Velkro, Ido Ophir - 'Warehouse' [Sprout]

** GUEST MIX - Makai **

Dole and Kom - 'Where's Love' [Death By Disco]
Format B - 'Octopussy' [Trenton Records]
GummiHz -'Desire' [Clone]
Tg - 'Jam In My Pan' [Fling]
Johnwaynes - 'Retouch' (Llorca Rmx) [Brique Rogue]
Luca Bacchetti - 'Like A Sadhu' [Wagon Repair]
Brwn Shoes - 'Tigers Don't Sleep' [Foundation]
Wollon Harada - 'Metropoliton Fulltime' (Tigerskin Rmx) [BluFin]



Don't Forget!!

Kilks at Audio on Friday with Ada

See You There!!