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B12 - Last Days of Silence Review

This year B12 make their return after disappearing from the scene so suddenly back in 1996. Back then the duo’s sound was mistaken for coming from the Detroit underground but in fact was they were completely home grown. Signed to the infamous Warp records B12 were making a name for themselves through the early 90s up until ’96 when with a test pressing for their new album B1215 ready they suddenly departed with out a trace. Spurred by circulating old material through poor quality bootlegs and a sold out live show in 2005, B12 decided to fly the flag again through remastering old material for release but more importantly producing new material.

Last Days of Silence is the result and delivers a combination of electronic epic melodies over industrial percussion. You can really hear the Detroit influence throughout this album with the various dark soundscapes. There are some interesting tracks on this album, Hail of Mirror’s epic strings make it such an apt intro record for the album but also anyone’s DJ set. Whilst More Than One has a particularly old skool Detroit feel with its 303 percussion and swirling electronic synths. Don’t Be Afraid seems particularly evil as its angry melodies and broken beat slowly breathes out a dark sound. Another favourite is Static Glitch, it uses intensifying loops to create a scatty mess of beats and glitchy electronic sounds.

In addition to the interesting there are some different tracks too, such as Beyond Reason with its glitchy mechanical rhythms and Ashamed of Me with syncopated cymbals and haunting strings. I wouldn’t say they’re danceable but they are intriguing. More dancefloor accessible tracks can be found on 32 Lineup and Slope which take up a usual techno stance.

Whilst there are some interesting elements on this album I find some of the safer dancefloor material a bit run of the mill and maybe a tad dated in its sound. The live show should prove interesting whether the whole album could keep a crowd entertained. For the avid electronica and techno fans of yesterday I’m sure this album will be much loved but for the kids of today which were watching ninja fighting turtles through the 90s I reckon they will want something more. 5/10



Last Days of Silence is out on 26th May 2008
1. Hall of Mirrors (Digitonal’s Strings in Space Remix)
2. Magnetic Fields
3. 32 Lineup
4. One
5. Don’t Be Afraid
6. Static Glitch
7. In Control
8. Beyond Reason
9. Slope
10. Omni Therapy
11. Ashamed of Me
12. More Than One
13. Isolation on Demuba

www.b12records.com

Audiomatique 2.1 Review

Adultnapper brings us his latest mix in the form of his Audiomatique Vol.2 compilation. So in conjunction with this release they’ve put some of the tracks he used on a nice little sampler EP.

The Viewer – Street Horn
This track is brilliant. It is an epic movement of sound laced with interesting snippets of flute and string melodies over a hypnotic restrained beat and two tone bassline. This gives the track an sense of held back urgency if there is such a thing. Its quite similar in style to Ilario Alicante’s recent Vacaciones En Chile or Djuma Soundsystem’s Les Djinns so its definitely not for the peak time techno floors. But if you like your epic Trentmoller sounds then this is definitely up your street.

Robert Babicz - White Storm
In Robert Babicz’s White Storm a trickle of chimes flows over a big throbbing bassline as it hypnotises you through its swirling manner. It combines a big room sound with the more intricate detailing of the more minimal tracks out there. It seems to work quite well as it seems mellow yet moving. For the DJs out there it’s a bit of a bugger to mix as it’s got a beatless intro and outro so takes a bit of thinking on how to smoothly drop in such a delicate tune. I like this track but I reckon a remix with a different set of basslines would defo tickle my fancy more.

Joel Mull – Red Light of Dawn
Red light of Dawn has a distinct techno feel to it as it progressively builds to a flourishingly warm breakdown… where the subtle two tone electronic string which moves in and out so gently in the build up comes straight to the forefront. This track is epic and for anyone on their pill honeymoon this is sure to reach for those lasers like we once did back in 99.

Mikael Jonasson – Rainy Sunny
Rainy Sunny is a fair track, stuck between big room electro house or techno, I can’t quite decide. Its got all the right elements of both and the only way I can describe it is that its something Sven Vath would play. It has the signature electro bassline and noises and is pretty much tub thumping. If you like that then this ticks all the boxes and will no doubt be filling floors from erm Paris to Berlin?

Electrified @ Inigos, Clapham

Start the bank holiday weekend in proper style by getting on it from Thursday. I'll be playing the finest electronic house and techno known to man all for the great price of nothing. Free entry and it rolls on till 2am. Get yourself down!

20 Years of The Sub Club by Sub Culture and Optimo Review

The Sub Club is Glasgow and Scotland’s Mecca to the underground. Evolving from ancient times, 1987 is ancient in terms of house, the Sub Club has played spectacle and weathered the ever changing landscape of dance music to still stay one of the best clubs of Scotland and the UK. I myself have never been in the 20 years of my 23 that it has existed but I have heard nothing but good words from Scottish friends and acquaintances. If I get over the grim Trainspotting images of crazed wielding Robbie Carlyles and smack injecting Ewan McGregors, then the Sub Club will be the first place I visit in the land of the Scots.

This CD is spread over 2 discs mixed by the long standing residents Sub Culture and Optimo. CD 1 by Sub Culture chronicles the different sounds of house and techno that have passed through the Sub Culture nights. Timeless tracks have been selected to produce a great mix, side stepping genres and the need to be upfront allowing the quality of great music to shine through. It meanders back in time hitting great tracks such as Carl Craig’s epic Mind of a Machine, Derrick May and Stacey Pullen’s mix of Wiggin, Soul Center II’s percussive Psycho Set, Code 6’s piano roller Quad 2, Jimmy Bo Horne’s Spank and Galaxy 2 Galaxy’s Jupiter Jazz.

I’ve listened to a few “history of house and techno” compilations and more often than not they tend to sound corny due to a dated sound. I know that’s contradictory with them being history compilations which generally tend to include old tracks, but some times old tracks are supposed to stay in the past. Its why Sasha and Digweed re-released The Mix Collection and took out all the cheesey M People piano house giving the CD a fresher sound. This CD follows in the similar vein. Sub Culture achieved what they set out to do, which is mix timeless tracks from dance music’s history. And the reasons I like it is because I can still appreciate the tracks with out the pre-requisite of 90s nostalgia which is where the other CDs go wrong for me.

CD 2 showcases the sounds of Optimo and their Sunday shindigs which have notched up over 10 years of service. The second CD goes through what you’d expect from Optimo, down tempo driving beats stopping off everywhere from disco, house and funk right through to techno, punk and acid. It truly is a unique sound that’s edgy, hip and cool, something that very few can pull off.

Stand out tracks on this CD have to be the short blast of Jeff Mills The Bells wound down to set the tempo, Luke Vibert’s acid tweak monster Asheed, Beat Conductor’s Moroccan influenced Marrakech, Ruth’s disco punk Polaroid/Roman/Photo, Lindstrom and Prins Thomas’ epic piano tinged Might Girl, Linkwood Family’s funk oozing Piece of Mind and Junior Byron’s Dance to the Music. It’s the variety and diversity which makes this CD so enjoyable to listen to and probably the more favoured of the two discs for me.

As a whole this CD combo makes it a keeper. Built on quality its been educational with both CDs showing me sounds from back in time within genres I reside in as well as sounds from genres across the board. Its educational without being cheesey, obvious or boring. The folks down at the national curriculum should take a leaf out the Sub Club’s book. 9/10

Buy 20 Years of the Sub Club


Release Date: 26th May
Disc 1 - Sub Culture
1 Carl Craig - Mind of A Machine
2 The Martian - Sex In Zero Gravity
3 Neal Howard - The Gathering
4 Mayday - Wiggin (Stacey Pullen Remix)
5 Quadrant - Q.1.1.
6 Orlando Voorn - The Light
7 Soul Center II - Psycho Set
8 Steve Poindexter - Born 2 Freak
9 Code 6 - Quad 2
10 Round 2 - New Day
11 Induceve - Time To Begin (Henrik Schwarz Dub)
12 Jimmy Bo Horne - Spank
13 Arnold Jarvis - Take Some Time Out
14 Lee Lewis - Atmosphere
15 Galaxy 2 Galaxy - Jupiter Jazz
16 Code 6 - Last Voyage

Disc 2 - Optimo
1 Jeff Mills - The Bells (Section)
2 Leather Nun - FFA
3 Nocturnal Emissions - No Separation
4 The Orb - Ripples
5 Les Georges Leningrad - Missing Gary
6 OP: L Bastards - Spraybeat (Eagle Mix)
7 Alec Empire - Robot L.o.v.e.
8 Luke Vibert - Asheed
9 Beat Conductor - Marrakech
10 Amnesia - Ibiza
11 Ruth - Polaroid / Roman / Photo
12 Front 242 - Take One
13 Baby Oliver - Shot Caller
14 Lindstrom & Prins Thomas - Mighty Girl (feat. Tortuga - Grand Drum)
15 Imps - Almost Live But Definitely Plugged
16 Jay Shepheard - Last Days (of Cou Cou) (feat. Tortuga - Grand Drum)
17 Linkwood Family - Piece of Mind
18 Mugwump - Boutade
19 Junior Byron - Dance To The Music
20 C Cat Trance - Shake The Mind

Mark Farina Fabric 40 Review

Recent Fabric quality has been on another level. Bug, MANDY and Pearson explored the popular sound of now whilst the other month Robert Hood blasted his way though your senses with his refreshing take on the minimal techno sound. This month Fabric flips the series on its head with Mark Farina approaching the CD series from the other end of the dance music spectrum. Like that timeless bit of art deco furniture round your Nan’s, Mark Farina is a timeless piece of furniture of the Chicago/US house. Farina is house and this release is the epitome of house in the form of a reflective plastic disc.

I have to say this CD makes you wiggle and bop from the very first beat to the last traversing the US house sound from the deep and jazzy right through to the jacking and acid. Like the Robert Hood CD this is a refreshing change from the usual Fabric Room 1 sound. Although refreshing Farina flies in from a completely different angle to Hood, laying down chunky beats, laidback grooves with plenty of funk. The CD just oozes summer time and no better time than the present for this CD to come out. Well Fabric First members would have had the recent mini heat wave to enjoy the CD with but unfortunately normal shoppers on the release week have a plenty of rain ahead. Maybe this CD will help the listener transport to warm climes?

The CD kicks off upbeat with a classic Chi Town vibe with Giom’s Together and JT Donaldson’s Why not Rock? It’s also good to see the Inland Knights on this CD representing the Nottingham/UK scene. I’ve found the Knights have always managed to find the right balance between deep and jacking. Their track “Where Ya At?” acts as a pivotal point as it kicks back into a laidback lounge sound as the round basslines suspend the listener in a hammock of dubby beats and warm synth lines. Johnny Fiasco’s Last Word adds a jazz element as you swirl around the wash of soulful mellow rhythms and melodies.

James Curd’s Pick Up What I’m Putting Down launches the listener out of their hammock as Farina makes his final onslaught to finish the CD on a high. Farina begins to lay down the future sound of house with some abstract sounds, strange samples and quirky acid lines. Carter’s mix of Make Dat Shit, Sneak’s Mumbler and Farina’s Das Shihaya an interesting take on Kraftwerk’s Trans Europe Express squelches and crunches its way through the final furlong of frenzied peak time.

Personally I do love this CD, my only minor gripe is that I wished Farina had released the peak time abstract sounds a little earlier as the last 20 minutes or so of the CD I enjoyed the most; granted this is coming from an electronic minimal house and techno lover. To the die hard Chicago/Deep house follower this CD might not upfront or groundbreaking. I for one can’t comment in that respect as my exposure to this genre isn’t what it used to be. But in terms of the Fabric series and what I’ve been listening to recently this CD is fun and interesting with a particular knack to make you move. With the summer sunshine now here this CD is a must. 8/10



Release Dates:
fabricfirst Members: 05/05/08 UK/R.O.W. Retail: 12/05/08 USA: 06/10/08

Tracklisting
01 - Giom – Together - Amenti
02 - Chuck Love – Yellow Truth [Atnarko Mix] – Onethirty Recordings
03 - JT Donaldson & Uneaq – Why Not Rock ? – Uneaq
04 - Ricardo Rae – Lead The Way – So Sound
05 - John Larner & Slater Hogan – Gettin’ Ready – Muzique Boutique
06 - Inland Knights – Where Ya At ? – Drop Music
07 - Homero Espinosa - Got This Feeling (LNS Disco Dub) - Yerba Buena Discos
08 - Alexander East – Believe En Me – Nordic Trax
09 - Frank Solano – The Blues Line [Tommy Largo Remix] – Kolour Recordings Digital
10 - Kris G – Feel My Love [Bobby Valentine Remix] – Union Recordings
11 - Non Believers – Stasera – Hudd Traxx
12 - Johnny Fiasco – Last Word – Dae Recordings
13 - Mood II Swing – Closer [Oliver Desmet & Fred Everything Mix] – King Street Sounds
14 - James Curd – Pick Up What I’m Putting Down – A Second Smell
15 - Rylan White Ft. Olly Brunton– There Goes The Neighbourhood – All House Music
16 - Lawnchair Generals – Broke Acid – LCG Music
17 - Jeremy Joshua – Make Dat Shit [Derrick Carter Mix] – Digital Disco
18 - DJ Sneak – Mumbler – Blu Funk Productions
19 - Prztz – Brutality – Jamanta Crew
20 - Mark Farina – Das Shibuya [Cheeba Mix] – Great Lakes Audio21 - King Kooba – Hoose Musik – King Kooba

Festival Line Up Additions: Sonar & Wild in the Country, plus the Cocoon ticket winner!

Holy Schmokes! which festival to do? too many options? Do i go abroad? do i stay here? Well i'm not going to help you with this post. Nope i'm just here to tell you what else has been added to make it even harder to decide.

Firstly, our friends at Sonar have decided to add more. If the Richie Hawtin/M-Nus 10th Birthday showcase wasn't enough, they've only gone and added everyone's favourite Chilean Ricardo Villalobos, deep disher Dubfire and Efdemin! Also Soulwax have been added as part of their "Weekend Never Dies"/"Most of the Remixes" tour. Probably my favourite addition is version 3 of the DJ Yoda audio visual extravaganza, yep the man will be presenting his Magic Cinema Show this year. Can't wait, every time i've seen him do his video thing it has been nothing short of spectacular.

NEW CONFIRMED ARTISTS FOR SÓNAR 2008
Soulwax (live/BE)
Dubfire (DJ set/US)
Ricardo Villalobos (DJ set/CL)
DJ Yoda's Magic Cinema Show (DJ set/UK)
The Black Dog (live/uk)
Quiet Village (live/UK)
Oscar Mulero (DJ set/ES)
Two PIAS DJs (DJ set/ES)

SHOWCASES
Dial Records presents:
Pantha Du Prince (live/DE)
Efdemin (DJ set/DE)

More info and tickets from www.sonar.es

A bit closer to home Renaissance are pulling out all the stops on their third attempt on UK festival Wild in the Country. They've got a M-Nus arena with Hawtin, they've got Sasha, they've got Tenaglia and 2ManyDjs. All the big guns are there, plus some big names in small letters such as Carl Craig, MANDY, Ame and Dixon. And to top it there are a load of bands which have 'The' at the start of their names which are probably massive on the nu-rave skins house party circuit. This year's live headliner comes in a tiny little Icelandic package called Bjork whos been getting rave reviews currently, take a look for yourself. So if you're gonna go to a UK festival Wild in the Country is my recommendation. Apart from the rain last year the festival was spot on. The 3 arenas were decked out immaculately and gave that element of intimacy if you could ever imagine large festival tents doing so. The lineup so far is:

Live

Bjork (UK Festival Exclusive), Soulwax, Foals, Battles, Pendulum, Booka Shade, Hercules & Love Affair, The Presets, Kissy Sell Out, Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, The Count & Sinden, The Cuban Brothers, Metronomy, Killa Kela, Audion, Heartthrob, The Field, XX Teens, Slagsmalsklubben

DJ's

Sasha, 2manydjs, Danny Tengalia, Richie Hawtin, Mylo (DJ Set), Faithless DJ Set (Sister Bliss + Maxi Jazz), Carl Craig, M.A.N.D.Y., James Zabiela, Dave Seaman, Magda, Marco Carola, Annie Mac, Switch, Ame, Plump DJs, Norman Jay, Yousef, Dixon, Duke Dumont, Serge Santiago, Nightmoves, Audiofly, Inxec, Matt Tolfrey, Marcus James

get your tickets from here, all early birds have gone though, better move quick before the normal tickets go.

Now time for the Cocoon @ The Warehouse Project ticket winner. The winner correctly answered the question "which country does Ricardo Villalobos come from?". The answer was of course Chile. Our winner is:

Liv Tickle from Manchester

Her tie breaker answer was: "I've made a portrait of Ricardo Villalobos using some card, glue and my own toe nail clippings"..... errrr nice girl? Congratulations, however i am now worried about the safety of Mr Villalobos allowing this young woman into the event...

Cocoon @ The Warehouse Project Competition

These days bank holidays = warehouse rave, be it London, Leeds, Manchester or Birmingham all have their own little warehouse space for you to belittle the weekend away. Our pick of the bunch for the forthcoming May bank holiday is of course the Warehouse Project in Manchester. They’ve been doing these shindigs for well over two years now so have got the whole thing running smoothly. The Sub Level Sessions popped up for the Sasha gig last December and had a right old knees up! This May bank holiday looks set to provide some great entertainment. Friday see’s the Soulwax gang back in town yet again; seems people just can’t get enough of their eclectic electronic rock fusion sound. The Sunday sees a medley of drum n bass, hip hop and dubstep with the likes of Roni Size and Skream reverberating those bassbins and DJ Yoda will also be attacking your audio visual senses with his Magic Cinema Show. Obviously here at The Sub Level Sessions we have a penchant for techno, which is why Saturday’s Cocoon night looks particularly good. On the bill is everyone’s favourite Chillean wreck head Ricardo Villalobos alongside long time techno hero Josh Wink. And to top it off young upstart Raresh is on warm up duties, truly a magnificent line-up in one of Manchester’s best venue. Its so good we’re gonna give one lucky winner a pair of tickets!

For your chance to win tickets to Cocoon at The Warehouse Project on the 3^rd May, send your answer to the following questions along with your name to sublevelsessions@googlemail.com. The competition closes 22^nd April 2008 and is open to UK residents only.

What country is Ricardo Villalobos from?

a) Germany

b) Chile

c) Uzbekistan

Tie breaker question: Josh Wink released the track Superfreak. What makes you a super freak?

Saturday 3rd May /// Cocoon
Ricardo Villalobos
Josh Wink
Raresh

£17.50 advance ///
9:30 pm - 5am

Buy Tickets Here

Big Weekends Ahoy!

This weekend sees a variety of good shindigs happening across the country. Our friends Product in Nottingham celebrate their third birthday. It only seems like yesterday when we covered their opening night at the Bomb with Lee Coombes and Si Begg. This year they celebrate their birthday at Stealth in the company of The Klaxons, MANDY and Hector. A mighty lineup across 3 mighty rooms to see a mighty three years in. Happy Birthday Product!

Friday April 18th
Product Third Birthday
Stealth Nottingham UK

3 Rooms. 3 International Guests. 3 Nottingham Exports. 1000 Friends.
The Largest Product Event Yet.
Doors 22:00 - 06:00
Tickets from £10 currently available from Rock City box office, Selectadisc, Funky Monkey, UNU Box Office, official pre-bars and online at www.gigantic.com.

Rescue Rooms: Product A
KLAXONS
RIOTOUS ROCKERS
TILT
Room 1: Product B
M.A.N.D.Y.
MATT TOLFREY
REZ
MATTHEW BURTON
Room 2: Shrink Records
HECTOR
MAX COOPER
POLLYY
DAVE JAMES
MAKAI

Back in London, Hi Tek Soul rolls back into town. This month features a battle of the Derricks as they battle it out with the Chicago and Detroit tools. Derrick Carter will be dropping his trademark boompty Chicago house whilst Derrick May will deliver his blend of techno from the motor city. What makes it even better is that Stacey Pullen is in support, another American legend! Thank you Jim Masters!

19-04-2008
HiTek Soul @ Ministry of Sound
BOX:
Derrick May
Derrick Carter

BAR:
Stacey Pullen (4 hr set)
Jim Masters

BABY BOX: (Holic)
Tomoki Tamara
Jay & Dom
Toni C
Yachi

Where: 103 Gaunt Street, London, SE1 6DP
Nearest Tube: Elephant & Castle
Time: 23:00 - 07:00
Price: £17,£15ADV,£12CONS,£10NUS

If all that isn't enough. Our very own Chris Wan is playing at Relentless on Saturday too. At a Fortress Studios in Old Street. for more info check the web site on how to get your name on the glist. http://www.jsl-productions.com/

Singles Reviewed: Samim - The Lick, King Unique - Hinode, Subb-an - Corridors EP and Itmar Sagi - Black Gold

Samim - The Lick
Samim divided opinion last year with his summer gypsy house hit heater with unexpected plays from claude von stroke right through to jo wiley. Some loved its quirky fun sampling which caused them to do hybrid folk/square/gypsy dances. Others hated the track also for the quirky accordion sample which made people do silly hybrid folk/square/gypsy dances. Either way it brought Samim to everyone’s attention. His follow up or more so the next track he’s releasing is also another quirky one. It takes on a wobbly breakbeat with some Justin Timberlake style lyrics. In fact this track could pass for some kind of Justin Timberlake/Missy Elliot collaboration. As it shifts from its starting breakbeat rhythm to a house friendly 4/4, elements of bollywood percussion and strings filter through. It’s a strange combination, but it seems to work. I can’t imagine the Berlin elite playing this, but I can see the likes of Mehdi et al dropping its quirky rhythms.

If quirky hip house vocals aint you’re thing, then Derrick Carter is here to save the day. He pumps the track up full of chi-town boompty, placing itself somewhere between the Chicago jacking and the fidget sound that Switch pounds out. Derrick cuts and chops the samples up and rearranges them in a haphazard order which creates a bum shaking groove. For those that don’t like the full on hip house vocals, there is a dub which dials down on the words. So everyone can be pleased. Well apart from the deep house and minimal fans. But the Carter mix is full of so much energy you can’t help but love it. 7.5/10

Buy The Lick from Beatport

King unique – Hinode

This is the first I’ve heard from King Unique since their days on the old Junior label. These days the
boys have been putting their tracks out on their own label Curfew with Hinode being the 8^th release.
Hinode is a mix of epic synth sweeps combined with your typical crunchy electro minimal sound. The only description that comes to mind about this track is a poor mans Holden remix of The Sky Was Pink. It is nearly identical in its elements, yet King Unique fail to execute correctly. The beat structure just seems run of the mill, whilst the sweeping synths build to a quite corny faithless trance high. Fergie has a fair attempt at salvaging the package with his techno roller which has plenty of groove and fidget to make any dancefloor move. However this track lacks identity with its typical fidgety minimal techno shuffle. It will rock the floors but will most likely be swept away in the wash of all the other “minimal” tracks out there. 5/10

Subb-an – corridors ep

You’d have thought Subb-an and his Corridors EP would be hailing from on the pulse Berlin, but in fact the young whippersnapper is hailing all the way from Birmingham of all places. How is this possible you might ask? Birmingham is full of trendy mullets, a penchant for the funkiest of funky house and was once the epicentre of all things hard house. Well for the best part you’d be right, but away from the vomit lined gutters of Broad Street lies a party known as Below. Its here where the young Subb-an has been cutting his teeth at Birmingham’s answer to Circo Loco at DC-10.

Corridors is made up of four tracks poking in at the house genre from all sides. Moscow Fighting is a winding moody house track laced with random stabs of a piercing piano. The track slowly progresses with the winding siren synths becoming more and more intense, coupled with the piercing piano through the breaks of the synth makes this track a haunting deep house monster.

Quadroon follows a similar formula to Moscow fighting but flips it round using bright warm synths which shift and phase in over the course of the track leading up to a singular crescendo at the back end. I can really imagine this track slotting nicely into the Below warm up regime during their infamous Birmingham day time BBQs.

The EP is finished off with Poloma another deep house affair which takes a moody approach with its dubby bassline. Unfortunately I find this track quite forgettable out of the lot, yet I can imagine the bassline could really pulsate through a crowd on a larger sound system. It is this bassline that the Ralph Swilinski mix has picked up on, beefing it up and making it angry. The growling bassline dances around a shifting pattern of percussion samples keeping the track simple but strangely infectious with its groove. A great slice of dub tech house if such a genre exists, making this track the standout on the EP. 7/10

Itmar Sagi – Black Gold

Itmar Sagi drops a ballsy Detroit-esque techno track which bubbles synths over a growling bassline. Funk D’Void used this track to kick of his Sci Fi Hi Fi 4 mix and quite rightly so. The track starts ballsy but slowly elevates through a wispy cloudy foreground created by the string synths.

Sammuel L Sessions transforms the track into a techno roller, looping the strings to hypnotise the listener. The loops work creating a dark Fabric room 2 sound which ticks over nicely, but doesn’t provide enough progression to keep it interesting. On the other hand Chymera’s mix is quirky and off beat. Drip feeding you samples of the strings over a dub style break beat before spitting you out the other end in a wash of breathy sweeps.

All three tracks are different with their own take on techno but all three sound fresh; definitely worth a purchase to bring a breath of fresh air to your sets. 8/10

CD Giveaway Winners!

So the entries are in and to emulate Snatch, "all bets are off". If you can remember back to a few weeks ago we had promised copies of Miss Kitten's trashy electronic album "Batbox", The Glimmer's experimental no money album "Are Gee Gee Fazzi" and Sascha Funke's fruitly named "Mango".

So the winners are:

Miss Kitten - Batbox
Elizabeth Smith
Si Quick

The Glimmers - Are Gee Gee Fazzi
Si Quick
Ben Gersham

Sascha Funke - Mango
John Hodgson
James Hansen

You'll be receiving a copy through the post congrats!!

As one door closes on a weekend another one opens…

Four day weeks are akin to a delicious chocolate truffle with a poisonous gooey centre. Last weekend was monstrous 4 evenings of nothing but opportunity to pickle the liver for which I grabbed like some crazed person after those silver tokens in the dome contraption on the crystal maze. Tuesday turned up, I felt horrible but finally got back to reality to find the weekend was on my doorstep once again, urgh, but in a rather superficial “do I have to” way. So to understand the mistake I’m going to make by being back at work next Monday in pain, lets recap how I got there the first time round.

Secret Sundaze @ The Coronet Theatre

Thursday saw the weekend kick off with Secret Sundaze. Usually a staple in the London Sunday clubbing calendar and the one who tends to destroy souls on the weekend decided to opt for the pre-emptive tactic and destroy people before they’d even begun. Thursday night saw them bring another Detroit legend to town in the form of Kevin Saunderson who headlined alongside minimal Berliner Tobi Neumann. Out back in room 2, Italo-Ibizan night Monza entertained us with one third of the Romainian RPR sound system Pedro. Whilst another two rooms of disco and soulful house could be found in the old theatre settings of the Coronet.

Aside from the ridiculous queue to get into the moderately empty building, Secret Sundaze had a good sizeable crowd in attendance. Both the big rooms were packed out with plenty of dress up fun that only Secret Sundaze can do. The music was good in places, but seemed all a bit same old same old at times, the same house and techno that weren’t really going anywhere which seemed to affect the crowd after a while. There were flashes of inspiration and I did have a “laugh” but all in all it just settled into a usual night with average music from both the main and back room with a subdued crowd. I hope Secret Sundaze go back to their formula of small interesting venues with a more select up for it crowd.

M-Nus 10^th Birthday @ Fabric

So the jewel in the weekend crown for most was the M-Nus 10^th Birthday. Presale tickets had sold months in advanced, something unheard of for a Fabric Saturday, so it was pretty obvious that only small oily fish in a tomato based sauce would be comfortable. Undeterred I still went. Come on its Richie Hawtin in room 1 and after missing him at the End and being disappointed for the first time at Lost in July, I needed a good dose of Hawtin magic to restore the faith.

On arrival the queue was pretty lengthy even by Fabric standards. It was visible from Farringdon station which isn’t even that close and round a corner! There were rumours flying round of people being camped out since 7pm! That’s dedication to the cause big time! Luckily I didn’t have to wait too long being on some sort of lengthy list thank god. On the inside it was the usual mix of folk all cramped in moving fluidly round the club. If you got caught in the wrong flow you ended up in the toilet hoping sea rescue were going to pull you out.

Anyways I digress, all this talk of queues and people when I should really be talking about the music, which is easily summed up in one word. BRILLIANT. All rooms were rocking. Great techno all round with a real up for it crowd. It was nice to see Magda playing some decent music again. Last few times she had been really dull. Maybe because she’s made for the warm up slot and peak time sets don’t really do her justice? I dunno. But I do know she was rocking room 1. Marco Carola continued his excellent form in room 2 to a packed out crowd. Again the crowd were electric, people cheering and going nuts. Haven’t seen such enthusiasm since…. Urm the last time Hawtin and the gang were down. Gaiser ripped into Room 1 with his Gaiser sound and an entertaining sound at that. I’m pretty sure he laid down some new stuff too.

So to the main event, Hawtin rolls on at 5am with a planned 5 hour set and my god it was a journey that required seat belts. I couldn’t tell you what he played; all I know is that I was extremely happy at hearing that sound, his sound. OK he did go a bit filter- tastic but every time he did it people would go nuts. So I don’t blame him for massaging his ego watching people go mental at a turn of a knob. I did stay right till the end, however someone left an open hole upstairs on the balcony which I fell down and was lost of the last 2 hours of the night. So here ends the M-Nus report.

Circo Loco @ The End

Bank holidays usually mean a little piece of Ibiza invades the End. Circo Loco tries to re-create the aeroplane flight path terrace magic by having the UK party in an old underground station supplementing the aeroplanes with inflatable ones. But that shouldn’t matter; it’s really about the music!

Like Thursday night it seemed pretty good all round. Good music, good crowd, yet it seemed to lack something, well something in comparison to the mighty M-Nus night which just had it all. It might have been me coming to the end of the line, but there didn’t seem to be the electric atmosphere witnessed the previous night. All the DJs on did a great job, Gavin Herlihy and Dollz at Play working the lounge to great affect and Jose De Divina made mince meat of the main room. Unfortunately I missed Rhadoo, part 2 of the Romanian sound system as I was tucked up in bed!

This Weekend
After all that one would generally want to shoot themselves. But after a few days at work and some second thoughts, it seems like we should wish Mulletover a very happy birthday at Se One this Saturday. And if that’s not enough for you good ol’ Villalobos is tearing Fabric room 1 a hole. Get involved!

PS. 5^th April – Time Warp, we’ll be bringing you a full report on this massive big room techno fest known to man!

Another Sub Level Sessions CD Giveaway Bonanza! Miss Kitten –Bat Box, Sascha Funke –Mango, The Glimmers - Are Gee Gee Fazzi

So the show might have ended for a bit on URF Radio, I know I’m also holding back the tears to. But fear not there are plans to comeback on the good ol’ tinterweb. But to show our appreciation and to keep your audio senses occupied we’re giving away some CDs. Not any old CDs though, an orgy of artist albums from stalwarts The Glimmers, Miss Kitten and Sascha Funke. We've got two copies of each album to give away to folks from the UK(sorry!) so read on and enter away!

Miss Kitten – BatBox

Miss Kitten drops her 2nd album Batbox after two years in the making. She returns with her fusion of mechanical electronic beats fused with trashy electroclash sounds and her trademark dulcet tones in a whole world of distortion. This album has a certain air of a punk about it with standout tracks such as Grace, Barefoot Tonight and the Jo Jo De Freq collaboration Kitten is High. Miss Kitten is able to take you through various shades of electronic moods using her vocals as another dimension to each track.

BUY Miss Kitten - Batbox

We’ve got two copies to giveaway. For your chance to win Miss Kitten’s Batbox, answer this simple question and send it along with your name and address to sublevelsessions@googlemail.com.

What Felix Da Housecat track did Miss Kitten feature on? Was it:
a) Silver Screen Shower Scene
b) TV Bath Scene
C) Accidental Walk in Whilst Someone is Having a Shower Scene


Sascha Funke – Mango

Sascha Funke follows up his debut album Bravo with this fruity number Mango. This album wraps the listener in a warm atmospheric ambient blanket with Sascha Funke’s layered, dare I say minimalistic styled electronic beats awash with breathy synths and pads. This album shifts and slowly moves through hypnotic layers, with stand out tracks such as Take a Chance With Me, We Are Facing The Sun and the excellent Double-Checked which features on Ellen Allien’s forthcoming Boogybytes Vol 4 out on BPitch Control. So it’s definitely all go down at the little Berlin record label with this and Boogybytes.

BUY Sascha Funke - Mango

We’ve got another two copies to give away of this CD, so for your chance to win, send in your answer to the following simple question along with your name and address to sublevelsessions@googlemail.com.

Which Berlin label is this CD being released on, is it:
a)BLow Control
b)BPitch Control
c)APitch Control

The Glimmers – Are Gee Gee Fazzi

The Glimmers, a duo from what must be some indie dance nu rave factory in Ghent Belgium. I say a factory, because nothing can explain why so much talent has come out of this sleepy Belgium town. Soulwax, The Glimmers, urm 2ManyDJs. Ok 2ManyDJs are Soulwax, but hey that’s still 2 massive acts for a small town. Anyways, I’m getting sidetracked. The Glimmers for their album decided to go all Radiohead on us. Well Radiohead and a little bit further. Rather than you deciding whether to buy the album or not, the Glimmers are giving it to you for free if you manage to catch one of their live shows. This just turns the whole CD thing on its head, but by golly I think I could work. You show you support by checking them live and the show their appreciation by giving you their latest album. And what a great album it is. The Glimmers entertain with their quirky retro punk funk sound with amazing bass guitar licks with a smattering of disco, soul and funk elements. This will get any glowstick wielding nu-rave kid wiggling about.

If you cant get yourself to a Glimmers gig anytime soon, fear not as we’re giving away two copies for two lucky readers. So long as you can answer the following easy question and send that in along with your name and address to sublevelsessions@googlemail.com.

Where are the Glimmers from? Is it:
a)Paris
b)London
c)Ghent

Chris Wan is RAW TALENT

well not quite. I'm runner up Raw Talent, which i think is an ok level of rawness to be at this present time. Yes they stuck my face in the magazine looking cat like and talked about how they would pay good money to hear this in a club.. (You listening all your promoters out there?) even Nic of Nic Fanciulli fame thought that it was a "perfectly mixed house set, can't fault it". So if you never caught it, you still can HERE:

Final Show Tracklisting: 15th March

Mark Mendes - 'Tripped Out' [Starter]
Lutchenkirchen - 'Paperboy' (D-Nox & Beckers rmx) [Great Stuff]
Kiko - 'Requiem For A Dream' [Confused]

** GUEST MIX - Makai - 'Lateral Movement' **

Sis - 'Marcha Osura'
Stimming & H.O.S.H - 'Radar'
Jerome Sydenham & Tiger Stripes - 'Elevation (pt. 2)'
Tim Deluxe - 'You Got Tha Touch' (Martin Buttrich Mix)
Noirdegout - 'Late Night Cities' (Oxia & Eric Borgo rmx)
Guido Schneider & Andre Galluzzi - 'Albertino'
Kenny Hawkes & David Parr - 'The Booby Trap'
Bart Skills & Anton Pieete - 'When Midnight Calls'
Luke Solomom - 'Space Invaders' (Andomat 3000 rmx)

***********

A Short But Sweet Collection Of Big Tunes From My Time At
The Sublevel Sessions

Piemont - 'Carbonat' [MBF]
Spektre - 'Jade' [GU]
Dusty Kid - 'Tsunami' [Systematz]
Jim Rivers - 'Restore' [Saw Recordings]
Lange and Dexter - 'Step Back' [Craft Music]
One + One - 'No Pressure' [One + One]



'Keep It Locked'


Lukeo

IT'S ALL OVER!!

That's right. Nightmare as it is, tonight sees the final regular broadcast of the sublevel sessions
on URF.

What a journey it's been for me over the past year and a half and how sad it'll be to say goodbye, but needs must as they say. Many a night out has sprung from the show and from what I can remember, muchos good times (see Richie Hawtin at Fabric c. this time last year).
Not to mention more awesome tunes and quality guest mixes than you could shake stick at.

Great fun all round, but good things must come to an end, and tonight from 8-9 (and as late after as I can possibly drag it), i'll be gracefully bowing out. After a year of mixing it up, throwing electro and even prog into the Sublevel Sesh mix, tonight I'm going back to the it's roots, ending it all with an hour or pure techno, tech house and minimal.

So tune in then, and we'll go out in style. And keep your ears peeled for the possibility of a show of pure Sessions classics, which if I have anything to say about it will be a definite goer.

Cheers folks

It's been good

Lukeo

(And don't forget, the site will carry on and on into the future, bringing you mixes, reviews and maybe even the odd podcast. It's been around for five years and Sublevel isn't about to die yet!)

Ellen Allien Boogybytes Vol.4 Review

The track records for the Boogybytes CD series and Ellen Allien are pretty sparkling so far. For the former Kiki, Sascha Funke and Modeselektor have all produced some excellent mixes whilst Ellen Allien has warped our ears with her mind bending Fabric 34 mix and part delivered the Orchestra of Bubbles album. So sticking the two together should technically produce some grade A listening. That said sticking Gerrard and Lampard together never seemed to work but fear not as Ellen Allien is German, a plucky Berlinette with her own label BPitch Control who also happens to put out the BoogyBytes CD. So being German she’ll probably side step any difficulties, Vorspung Durch Technique and all that, right?

For this CD Ellen takes her trademark weird and trippy route. The haunting eerie soundscapes, bug crawling noises and ambient backgrounds keep this CD interesting throughout. The CD opens with a poem from AGF who also produce’s Ellen’s forthcoming longplayer SOOL. The poem is set to the haunting and ambient sounds we’ve come to expect from Ellen. Followed by Vera’s In The Nook, its sonar style blips lay the bed for Villalobos’ Fizpatrick to take hold. From here the mix progresses through all kinds of tripped out noises enough to send the soberest of people into an acid induced schizophrenia state. Sozadam’s Eye Forlon track just epitomises the whole CD, growling heavy bassline, sparse paranoia inducing sounds and freaky pitched down voices that might once have been your conscience.

Lucio Aquilina Magic M makes an appearance on this CD. Whilst I do like the track I feel it doesn’t seem fit neatly within the whole ethos of the CD. Unlike the Buttrich mix of Music is Improper with its strange electronic sounding sirens and repetitive “music” vocal or the haunting chimes of Gaiser’s Withdrawal. It is the trippyness which makes this CD epic, the different elements and ambience just draws you the listener in on Ellen’s winding journey through dark and misty Prague-esque alleyways. There aren’t any big drops and massive hands in there air moments, its just effortless gliding from track to track making this CD sublime and ideal for that wind down afterparty moment when the walls are melting and conversation is at an abrupt end. Definitely on par with Fabric 34 and it will be interesting to see what her album Sool will bring us. 8/10

Buy Ellen Allien Boogybytes Vol.4

Release date: 31/03/2008

Tracklist:

01 Agf - Liniendicke

02 Vera - In The Nook

03 Ricardo Villalobos & Patrick Ense - Fizpatrick

04 Melon - Nitzi (In My Mind, So Fine)

05 Andres Zacco & Lucas Mari - Carbonela“ (Seph's Vidrionela Rmx)

06 Konpiùta - Christmas Fairytale“ (Moessap Edit)

07 Sozadams - Eyes Forlon

08 Richard Seeley - Juicy Vermin

09 Lucio Aquilina - My Cube

10 Melchior Productions - Don Juan

11 Friendly People - Music Is Improper“ (Martin Buttrich Rmx)

12 Sascha Funke - Double Checked

13 Gaiser - Withdrawal

14 Kassem Mosse - A1

15 Little Dragon - Twice

Robert Hood Fabric 39 Review

Robert Hood has little to do with Nottingham’s favourite thief Robin Hood, however in terms of legendary status they’re probably on par; well they are if you talk to techno aficionados. One of the founding members of Detroit’s Underground Resistance along with the alien like Jeff Mills and Mad Mike Banks, Robert Hood has been there from the beginning shaping techno into what it is today. Many credit his seminal 1993 release ‘Minimal Nation’ as a pivotal point in techno, laying the blueprint for many to follow and build on. So in short Robert Hood = Legend and unlike Robin Hood, we know he exists.

For Fabric 39, Robert Hood doesn’t hang about, he rifles through 32 tracks with straight up “balls to the wall” techno from the get go. None of this slow building plod, Robert Hood starts as he means to go on… rude, obnoxious and in your face making it quite a refreshing change to the usual polite inoffensive bleeps we’ve become so accustomed to. The CD builds through a combination of Detroit sounding pads and hypnotic loops before it crescendos into Marco Lenzi’s Taboo firing the mix into a frenzy of funk fuelled disco and carnival influenced techno, enough to make even the most discerning techno crusty wiggle like they’re in Rio.

Robert Hood wanted this mix to take the listener on a trip, which I can empathise with, if this trip were on Tom Hank's Castaway raft and Wilson the ball floated away a long time ago. Hood carries you to the crest of every wave through his trademark stripped back loops such as Element 23, UK Gold’s Agent Wood and Pacou’s All It Takes before crashing down into relentless beats and symbol crashes through Scorp's New Energy and John Thomas' Pulp Funktion 2. The CD manoeuvres up and over many waves to shore up on a Hood classic, The Greatest Dancer showing us his version of disco funk.

This CD is relentless, its pumped up on speed and the hypnotic loops suck you right in. The variety in which Hood moves through genres of techno is nothing short of amazing. OK there are some shaky mixes, but it just adds to the rawness and rudeness of this mix. This is techno the Robert Hood way and it is excellent, unpretentious and raw. 9/10

Buy Robert Hood - Fabric 39


Release: fabricfirst Members: 03/03/08 UK/R.O.W. Retail: 17/03/08 USA: 04/14/08
Tracklisting
01. Monobox - Silicone Fingers – Logistic
02. Element 9
03. Robert Hood – Who Taught You Math – Peacefrog
04. Pacou – X-Factor – Cache
05. Robert Hood – Strobe Light – Music Man/N.E.W.S.
06. Marco Lenzi – Taboo – Molecular
07. Joris Voorn – Fever [Rephrased] – Keynote
08. Fab G – Bust The Vibes [Real Disco Mix] – Grand Prix
09. Dan March – Sand Dune – Meta
10. Element 3
11. Diego – Mind Detergent [Robert Hood Remix] – Kanzleramt
12. Jeff Mills – Skin Deep – Axis
13. Robert Hood – School – Music Man/N.E.W.S.
14. Element 23
15. John Thomas – Mr. Funk – Logistic
16. DJ Skull – Informant – Hypnotic Tones
17. Scorp – One Side – Music Man/N.E.W.S.
18. Pacou – All It Takes – Cache
19. Phase – Mass – N.E.W.S.
20. UK Gold – Agent Wood [Adam Beyer Remix] – New Records
21. Solid Decay – Legalize! - Lessismore
22. Element 7
23. Robert Hood – Side Effect – Music Man/N.E.W.S.
24. Mion- Drop The Filter – Music Man/N.E.W.S.
25. Scorp – New Energy – Music Man/N.E.W.S.
26. UK Gold – Agent Wood [Original Mix] – New Records
27. Robert Hood – Still Here [Los Hermanos Remix] – Music Man/N.E.W.S
28. John Thomas – Pulp Funktion 2 – Logistic
29. Robert Hood – The Greatest Dancer – M-Plant
30. Low Life – Exclamation - Mosaic
31. Robert Hood – And Then We Planned Our Escape – Music Man/N.E.W.S.
32. Element 12

nightmare

So if you tuned into the 11pm show last night, you would have been greated with a fat load of nothing.

Muchos appologies from the Sublevel Sessions. Circumstances out of my control and people
higher up the food chain of life made it impossible.

Stay in touch with the site, though, for news of a special extra show up and coming.
With sick new tunes from Mark Mendes, Lutzenkirchen and that mix from Makai...

Speak Soon


Lukeo

For One Night Only!!

This Friday night, for a one time only special, the Sublevel Sessions will be moving
from it's regular slot of 8pm, to the late late howls of 11.

Expect loads of techno finery and an awsome new mix from Stealth and Product's Makai.

So if your leaving it late to hit the tiles, or getting on it at home, whack on www.urfonline.com
from 11 - 12 and we'll sort you right out!!


Luke

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]