THE DIRT #38: TROY KURTZ & SWEET FA
07 20 2011
TK: My British pal SweetFA and myself have been given the honor to dish out to you the 38th installment of THE DIRT, and we couldn’t be giddier if we tried. You’ll find that I take a trip through history and shell out some of my all-time favorite garage/funkybass/dubstep tunes from the past that might have slipped under your guard, while my UK cohort gets you up to speed on the all the big house records that are just dying to become staples in your iTunes library. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did compiling.
• Bran Van 3000 – Astounded (MJ Cole Mix)
MJ Cole has been one of my favorite producers ever since I first got into EDM. As a pioneer of of the 2-step and UK garage scenes, he’s been putting out amazing records for well over a decade. This remix dates back to 2001, and I still regard it as one of the grooviest tunes in my collection.
• Lemonade – Lifted (Hackman Remix)
Riding on the coattails of MJ Cole comes the new generation of funky producers, and I rate Hackman as one of my favorite new artists. Last summer he burst onto the radar with his ‘More Than Ever‘ EP, and followed it up with his latest EP which came out this month called ‘Close‘, which I highly recommend.
• Joker & Jakes – 3k Lane (L-Vis 1990 Dubble Step Edit)
If you’ve recently caught the dubstep bug a la Skrillacks, then you might not have heard of the monumental smash that was ‘3k Lane‘. Prior to the era of ‘Scary Sprites’, tunes like this used to be the highlight of bass nights. Night Slugs hotshot L-Vis 1990 put out a few of these ‘Dubble Step Edits’ a few years ago that are way cool. Hunt for the other ones, you won’t be disappointed.
• A1 Bassline & Kavsrave – Lucky Charms
I’ve always loved tracks at the 130 bpm range that have a half-time dubstep bit to them. This track has been a staple in my bassy sets ever since it came out in ’09 and still sounds current. If you haven’t copped A1 Bassline’s ‘Shock Headed’ EP, do so immediately (Shock Headed is an 808 MONSTER).
• Zomby – Rumours & Revelations
I found this tune wedged at the end of Hervé’s ‘Ghetto Bass‘ comp and have been in love ever since. Zomby recently put out his second album called ‘Dedication‘ that is top notch.
• Skream – Rutten
I’ll close with one of my all-time favorite Skream joints. The combination of woodwinds + low-end sub-bass in this late-night serenade makes certain parts of my body tingle that I don’t need to expand upon. I also have to give a big congratulations to Oliver and his missus on their recent son!
FA: Striking a balance with Troy’s dutty selection, I’ve opted for the housey and techier stuff. It’s a selection of some of the freshest tunes out there, together with a few surprises from my personal stash! It goes without saying, all are tunes I’m digging a lot at the moment. Dance on, lads and ladies…
• Homework – Rally Racquet Club (Oliver $ Remix) [Beatport] √+
Kicking off with something easy: a nice tech-house groover from Oliver Dollar with some nifty phaser work.
• Ray Foxx – The Trumpeter (Original Mix) [Beatport] √+
This tune dropped on Defected last month and I can’t get enough of it. Solo trumpet cuts and sick percussion. Summery, feel good house vibes, and it’s a monster of a tune. Really big.
• Benzie – Homecoming (Zedex Data-Loss Remix)
Been giving Zedex’s new Zulu X-Ray EP play for the past few weeks, but decided to buck the trend and see what else they had to offer. The rhythm changes and synth work on this track are fire.
• Cirez D – The Tumble (Original Mix) [Beatport] √+
This tune by Eric Prydz’s Cirez D alias has been a set staple of mine for about 9 months. It features the nastiest rolling bassline I’ve heard to date. Heavy.
• Punks Jump Up – Chimes (Younger Than Me Remix) √+
I got sent the Younger Than Me remix of the new Punks Jump Up tune this week. Admittedly I wasn’t mad on it at first, but now I’m a fan – it’s a grower and well worthy of some Dirty action with it’s overdriven Italo bassline and use of cow-bells.
• Alex Gopher – Invasion (Etienne de Crecy Edit) [Beatport] √+
If you haven’t cottoned on to it yet, be sure to check out Etienne de Crecy’s heavy edit of the new Alex Gopher track. It’s a banger for sure.
Sweet FA – The Dirt #38 Part 2 Zip
TK & FA
Well it’s been a long weekend for me.It started as usual and then yesterday we had our Physical Readiness Test and as usual I passed;Considering the weather conditions.There is one thing though I did learn is that I am so out of shape my body is so sore.I need to start beating the pavement.Other then that the weekend was boring.Tonight how ever will be full of exciting things.We will be going to an event where Skrillex,Gina Turner,and Laidback Luke will be preforming alongside some other special guests.Not to mention I will be scooping up my copy of Black Ops the evening.How was all your weekends?Hope everyone had a good one.I have a small but huge track list today to give you that jump start to get you through the week ahead.Enjoy…
