It's the Supersound

James Teej feat. dOP – Greenback (Art Department & Soul Clap Remix)

Blondes take the synth-wave legend Harold Grosskopf's title track - taken from the 1980 LP 'Synthesist' - on a dark, thudding techno trip, that progresses with the original's masterful analog synth work as a starting point, before slowly unvareling into a moody, echoing techno piece. 'Synthesist' is being re-released on February 15 on RVNG Intl, fitted with a second disc full of remixes from contemporary artists:

That bumpy minimal house sound has been spreading far and wide over the last few years. Deadfish; Sound Pellegrino; Exploited; What! What! Records... all quirky offspring of the mighty Made To Play and Dirtybird imprints, the dons of fun, sample-based house...

Palms Out Sounds recently posted two tracks by a newcomer hailing from Ontario, Sean Roman. This is deep house, with a bit of a bump: a clunky grooving beat slides along to a mutated swirl of sampled diva vocals. 'Lick' is more of the same - soul-flecked house, with a hint of disco:

Sean Roman - What To Do [pelski highly recommends]

Scion A/V teams up with Sound Pellegrino, one of the hottest and most consistent dance music labels around, for a compilation of what only be described as some serious heaters.

Scion A/V presents: Sound Pellegrino – Straight From The Spring (zip file, direct link)

“Sound Pellegrino’s former mystery man Gucci Vump is back again with another inventive (and kind of creepy) track. “Shashtilism” updates Gucci Vump’s first single “Sha, Shtil!” with an even bigger klezmer influence and crazy ratatatatatatatatat drums.

Bambounou turns up the tempo with “Abodan,” a kicking combination of tribal percussion, laser pings and the whirls of a spaceship taking off back to the beginning of civilization.

Probably the mellow cut on this collection, Para One gets remixed by LA’s LOL Boys, bringing in spacious synth lines and understated vocal percussion.

Bart B More & Harvard Bass’ “Listen to This” hits hard from jump street with a pounding bassline and militaristic drums. From there things only get more commanding as the cross-continental duo of Bart B More and Harvard Bass piles on monumental build-ups and cliffhanger breakdowns.

Out One’s “Altamont” is a chill but pulsing track with a glitchy beat and dinner bell shine. Out One is an old friend of the Institubes crew, previously working with them as a mixer and a video director, but only started producing his own music in 2009. Welcome to our iTunes playlists!

Finnish house duo Renaissance Man’s Sound Pellegrino release from 2009 get a soulful remix from Paris’ dOP who offer a classic 4/4 beat, spoken word vocals, smooth keyboards and a hypnotic breakdown. It comes directly from outerspace(d out).

For this compilation, Momma’s Boy (an alter ego of Paris producer Mikix the Cat) brings “Bot Band Concerto.” The track sounds like it’s name would suggest – a futuro dancefloor smacker played by an orchestra of robots, blipping and blopping through the night.

On “Next Novel,” Myd & Sam Tiba manage to incorporate traces of house, electro, minimal, dubstep and Baltimore club into their track with impeccable European sophistication. We’re not sure what the sampled vocals are saying, but we’re pretty sure it’s not “Harry Potters,” like we originally thought.”

This is the 4th release in a on-going series of limited edition 12″s from the newly formed vinyl imprint of Watergate. You might recall the name of this infamous club located in Berlin that’s become internationally recognized for it’s exclusivity, and the high-profile people that frequent there. Watergate has hosted so many renowned artists and DJ’s that I’m not going to attempt to start listing them here; but this is really how it’s garnered it’s reputation as a international super club. This particular release seems to be out of stock on Juno, but there are still some German stockists carrying it. You can try music-head.de or decks.de

The first track on this release is a nice subtle reworking of a tune off Martyn’s breath taking debut album “Great Lengths”. The rhythm has been reworked and simplified down to a hypnotic pulse, resonating against the syncopation of the bass – all while the trace elements of the original swirl and dip overhead. I’m quite pleased with what Sebo has done with the track, although it’s rather more a remix than an edit.

Martyn – Elden St. (Sebo K Watergate Edit)

On the flip we’ve got a very smooth original track from Dop. The title of this track is a little cheeky considering how warm and sexy the vocals are, but I guess it’s a sort of juxtaposition and wordplay. The vocals in this track are brilliant. “It’s a cold earth” is almost whispered, repeated, and so short and few you might not realize how little there is to it.

Dop – Cold World (Original Mix)

Some aspects of Watergate maybe seem a bit pretentious for me, like the “no picture policy”, but it ensures no one will be exposed and scrutinized in any candid photo’s of them getting down ‘n dirty the night before. I guess this wouldn’t matter for regular folks, and I’ll admit, I don’t like having a camera being shoved in my face either; but they’ve got to do something to protect the dignity of their clientele I suppose. Maybe in the future I’ll have a chance to experience Watergate but for now I’m happily enjoying these fine recordings in the comfort of my own home.

I worry these plalists devalue the worth of each individual track listed. Each tune here deserves a post each. But... there are other consideration a blogger must take into account ... such as the superficial allure of web traffic...

And so I present the 9th playlist of tunes that are all highly recommended by Sir Pelski. Here we have murmuring tech-house, choppy 2-step dubstep, pounding electro-house, dirty crunk and all those tropical sounds that might beckon out the sun...

Despite a gravity-defying quif that reaches from here to Shoreditch, La Roux has a beautiful, swooning voice tha makes her tunes perfect remix material. Skream, Zinc, Tepr and now Jack Beats have made superb efforts. Jack Beats’ jumpy house beats lead into the obligatory jon wonkery. It’s a real grower:

La Roux – I’m Not Your Toy (Jack Beats Remix)

Solo and his pals have had a good year, and it doesn’t stop here. Congos and tropical flavoured house is being brought back in a big way and seem to be suiting everyone’s summer mixes. Mowgli’s Deadfish label is the one to watch and, namely, Round Table Knights. (For my fave current Solo remix, buy his The Heavy remix):

Maps - I Dream Of Crystal (Solo Remix)

You’ll have heard this one by now, championed by Solo’s (among others’) tastemaking mixes, blog-friendly newcomer Myd takes the cheerful tropical thing to a new level. If you’re in a bad mood after hearing this, then you’re beyond help...

Myd – Train To Bamako

It’s been a while since Mr 8-bit’s been seen around these parts, though i was recently sent Baltic Pine the infectiously melodic Baltic Alpine and foolishly slept on it. Unlike some of his contemporaries and consorts (Herve, jack Beats, etc.) his productions are still thoroughly unpredictable (come on, that Jack Beats’ wobble is getting a little boring now and UFO takes it to a whole new level of silliness). However Jack Beats’ remix of Florence & The Machine is also a very mature take with techy clicks and clacks. But Mr 8-bit’s produced a sublime moodiness around those vocals with some lovely woody percussive beats:

Florence & The Machine – Drumming Song (Boy 8-Bit Remix)

Joe And Will Ask? have changed their tact a bit here. Usually it’s all about big growling synthlines, but here we have a chipper peaktime house tune with deliciously cheesy vocal work (featuring SaintSaviour):

Joe And Will Ask? – Fabric of Win (Radio Edit)

dOp are one of my favourite tech-house producers right now. Mambo Jumbo blew me away, and their remix touch-ups never fail (their Daso & Franklin de Costa remix, anyone?), while their collaboration with Noze was a highlight of the year. Lucky, then, that they’re letting this one out for free - a bluesy tune that verges on deep house.

dOp – Cum With Me

Mad Kids dropped this remix into my inbox a week ago – they cut rattling percussion between TV On The Radio’s lethargic melody:

TV On The Radio – Staring At The Sun (Mad Kids Remix)

Major Lazer: so many remixes so little time. From the guys who gave us ‘AA/24’, Dance Area ‘s remix has real staying power and has been smashing many a dancefloor: Mr Alkan’s been making Waves with this one (... um, geddit?).

Major Lazer - When You Hear the Bassline [feat. Ms. Thing] (Dance Area Remix)

This comes from our chums over at Datasapiens. Tomboy & Fredski (or Tomski and Fredboy as they call themselves in some releases) have smashed 2009 with outstanding jazz-infused tech-house releases such as March On Swan Lake and their remixes of Late of The Pier and The Menu. This remix comes part of their excellent Mr Fleurquin EP:

Thomas Barford & Fredski – Mr Fleurqui (Catz N Dogz Remix)

Enough with the house and techno. Some soothing melodies for those lazy summer days. The production quality on this is sublime and subtle:

Fleetwood Mac - Keep On Going (Cosmo Vitelli Edit)

When i first posted about 2 Bit Thugs i kept banging on about their ghetto-tech ‘Gangsters’ bootleg. They told me that they had to get permission from Rico Tubbs first. Now I presume they have,as they kindly dropped it into my inbox. The crunk-strewn, filth-ridden boomer gets pimped out with shot-gun cocks, shots and added hip-hop shoutery. Play it loud, with a diamond-geezer grin on:

Rico Tubbs – Gangsters (2 Bit Thugs Remix)(Dirty Version)

I can’t entirely abandon my electro-filth roots, so here’s Digitalism’s hotly tipped buddies remixing Zombie Nation. Dirty, fizzing distortion crackles around lots of bleepy bleepery...

Zombie Nation – Radio Controlled (Hey Today! Remix)

The DUblencial 6 album landed in my inbox a month ago. It was mostly filled with the grating mid-range dubstep I’ve come to hate. But this soothing slice of reggae-dub was a higlight, the cut-up Noah D remix is worth a listen too:

Liondub ft. Jah Dan & Sotto Bless - Heartbroken

I was surprised to see that this inventive Hot Chip remix slipped past me. I found it at the end of Round Table Knights’ Spring mixtape. Plucky strings and eerie clicks pitter and patter around slowly hummed vocals. A stunning remix:

Hot Chip – One Pure Thought (Remixed by Geese)

Alvaro’s loud and screeching house monster is given a percussive reworking by DJ Punish:

Alvaro – Make It Funky (DJ Punish Remix)

Mixhell serves up a dirty, rumbling dancefloor beast in his defiled Boris remix:

Boris - Buzz In (Mixhell Remix)

Guns ‘n’ bombs have unfortunately split. But they say their farewells with the oh-so-trendy tribal-tinged house, but guns’n’bomb’s typically throw in their signature filthy electro sounds. RIP:

Guns’n’Bombs - Samba Death Squad (feat. Ricardo Ribeiro)

Afrobeat house and piercing beepery seems to be Douster's running theme, and he's smashing it right now:

La Bande à Basile – La Chenille (Douster Gwada Remix)

Yolanda Be Cool - a welcome new addition to Ajax’s ‘Sweat It Out’ label – are handing out the chirpy ‘Afro Nuts’ to the blogs and it does exactly what it says on the tin: all jungle vibes, African rhythms and tropical congas. It samples Plan B’s 'Frikitona' and the label’s coined it ‘party-tech’ – it’s certainly alot of fun:

Yolanda Be Cool – Afro Nuts