DJ Dates & Tape Me Out (Parts 1 & 2)

Hello there! This is my first post on the Tape blog, but I feel that it may be a long one. There's a lot to pack in there... 2 mixes, some dates to announce, and also a few mp3s for your delectation. We'll start off with the dates.

Wed 25th January
Matt Tolfrey (Crosstown Rebels) @ System - Native

Fri 27th January
Tape (featuring the return of Mr Soft!) - The Elbow Room

Wed 15th February
DJ Naughty (International Deejay Gigolos/Eskimo) @ System - Native

Fri 24th February
Tape with special guest Matt Waites (Bugged Out!) - The Elbow Room

Firstly, we're going to be hosting Crosstown Rebels starlet Matt Tolfrey at System on Wednesday 25th January. He's officially the youngest ever DJ to play the Fabric main room and he'll be playing there again this saturday alongside Jay Haze & Guido Schneider. For evidence of his dancefloor destroying ability, check out his and Craig Sylvester's "The Horn" on Crosstown.

The following Friday, we'll be rocking out The Elbow Room as usual for our monthly Tape party. Entrance is free as always, and when Kiran Sande is returning to play especially for you, how can you refuse? Just look at that top 50! Me and Puffin Jack will be accompanying his royal softness on the decks for a Tape DJs only special!

The next event that we'll be hosting for System will be Berlin's DJ Naughty. Naughty is one of Berlin's most well respected DJs and producers, keeping electronic music interesting and intelligent but never forgetting that above all this, it should be fun. His recent mix, "One Naughty Night In Berlin" is available on Eskimo Recordings now and features a really wide range of dancefloor gems. Particular highlights include Carl Craig's remix of Hugh Masekela's "The Boy's Doin' It", the robo-disco of Sharpe & Numan's "Change Your Mind", and the novelty stylings of Ruede Hagelstein's "Sweaty Balls". Tickets for Tolfrey & Naughty are available at Replay Records on Park Street.

Now for a bit of audio...

The first part of Tape Me Out was actually done after the second part, but I feel that they have a much better flow this way around. It starts off with a quirky piano house tune and then runs through disco, punk-funk, italo, electro, techno and minimal. I've wrote a little about the tracks on the first half of the cd; comments on the rest of the tracks will come in later posts. Anyway, here's the link to the mix, and the full tracklisting.

Tape Me Out (Part 1)

1. Cass & Mangan - I Gotta Thang (Uh Huh)
2. Lex - Fourteen Days
3. Who Made Who - Hello, Empty Room
4. Kelley Polar - Here In The Night
5. Todd Terje - Eurodans
6. Hot Chip - Just Like We (Breakdown) (DFA Remix)
7. Francisco - Disco Way
8. Robert Babicz - Organic Boogie
9. Elektrochemie - Big One
10. Royksopp - What Else Is There? (Trentemoller Remix)
11. Fischerspooner - A Kick In The Teeth (Tiefschwarz Remix)
12. Brazilian Girls - Don't Stop (Riton Re-Rub)
13. Ame - Rej
14. Carl Craig - Sandstorms
15. Konrad Black - Medusa Smile (Don't Look Back) (Rockets Revamp)
16. Sono - A New Cage (Digitalism Remix)
17. Closer Musik - One Two Three No Gravity (Ewan Pearson Acid Remix)

1. Cass & Mangan - I Gotta Thang (Uh Huh)
I thought that this would be the perfect start for the cd. It's got a piano-house sound with a cheesy female vocal laying down the mix manifesto which may be a bit too cheesy on their own, but the oddball squelching electro effects piled on top just give it that perfect balance and turn it into a total feel-good anthem. "I gotta thang for ya" indeed!

2. Lex - Fourteen Days
This is a disco cut from New York's burgeoning underground scene of the early 80s. It's got a lovely brooding italo flavour and the production is just way ahead of it's time. Just check those drum breaks, the piano bit, the synth line, the wonky affected guitar... It also breaks really nicely into...

3. Who Made Who - Hello, Empty Room
Who Made Who are a 3 piece band from Copenhagen and feature Tomas Barfod on drums. He's known for his solo tracks as Tomboy on Gomma and also releases under his own name on Get Physical (check out the 'Neon Strobe' EP). As a band, they are best known for their covers of 'Flat Beat' and 'Satisfaction', but their original work is even better! They're also a great live band as they demonstrated when they rolled into town on the last 2 Many DJs/Soulwax Nite Versions tour. This track is taken from their debut LP 'Who Made Who' on Gomma.

4. Kelley Polar - Here In The Night
Oh, Morgan Geist! Why does everything you touch have to turn into italo-disco gold? Not that I'm complaining. He twiddles knobs on this album cut from the LP 'Love Songs Of The Hanging Gardens', released at the tail end of last year on Geist's own Environ label. He plays the cello and did the strings on some of Morgan's Metro Area material, don't you know.

5. Todd Terje - Eurodans
Known for his disco edits and original work under the name Tangoterje, Todd released this bass-throbbing, synth-shimmering, cowbell-plinking electro-disco monster about a month ago. Apparently, the story behind it is that Todd's friend asked him to come up with the cheesiest, commercial dance track that he could, and it ended up actually being really good!

6. Hot Chip - Just Like We (Breakdown) (DFA Remix)
You must know the score with the DFA remixes by now. Getting longer and longer by the month (the new Goldfrapp one clocks in at just under 13 minutes!), the quality never wanes. The Hot Chip vocal rides atop a quality spaced out melancholy disco vibe that Murphy and Goldsworthy do so well.

7. Francisco - Disco Way
Francisco de Bellis released his debut full length on Pigna after multiple 12"s, and boy, was it worth the wait. Release was delayed due to the design and testing of a board game designed to be part of the packaging, in which you play a DJ/producer trying to get to the top of the industry. Another reason to buy the gatefold vinyl! Anyway, this is a track from the aforementioned LP 'Music Business' and it never lets up in it's italo-disco throbbing goodness.

8. Robert Babicz - Organic Boogie
He's put out some excellent stuff on K2 and Punkt, but it's this release on Triebstoff that was really doing it for me last year. A swirling minimal groove that builds and builds, but it's that simple but effective bassline that is just undeniable!

More to come soon on that note... but here's the second part. It's a little more electronic and boshing than the first part, but when has that ever been a bad thing?

Tape Me Out (Part 2)

1. Chardronnet vs Afrilounge - Phonix
2. Drama Society - Crying Hero
3. Trentemoller - Rykketid
4. Riton vs Howdi - Closer
5. Justus Kohncke - Krieg
6. Instant Noodles - Electro Hip
7. DJ T - Funk On You
8. Serge Santiago - Adventures in Failure (Dub Version)
9. Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To (Erol Alkan's Glam Racket Remix)
10. Soulwax - Another Excuse (DFA Remix)
11. Tomas Andersson - Washing Up (Tiga's Na Na Na Na Na Remix)
12. Egoexpress - Hot Wire My Heart
13. Solid Groove - This is Sick
14. Kraftwerk - It's More Fun to Compute
15. Run Jeremy - Windowlicker (X-Rated Lick)
16. Justice - Waters of Nazareth
17. The MFA - The Difference it Makes (Superpitcher Remix)
18. Radiohead - Everything in its Right Place (Unklesounds Edit)

Also, I've got to give a mention to another superb electronic music blog, Devil In The Details. They've been posting quality music for a long time now, and I was honoured to have my mixes put up there by it's owner Colin Nagy. He was enquiring about whether the Unklesounds edit is available on vinyl. I know that it's never had a retail release, but if anyone finds it on a white, drop him a mail. He was very interested when I mentioned another mix of that song by Josh Wink. They're both great, so I'm gonna post the Josh Wink one up for you all now. The way he stretches the melody out... it sounds fantastic! Both mixes are great but in different ways; you have to appreciate that cutting synth on the Unklesounds one. Here it is...

Radiohead - Everything In It's Right Place (Josh Wink Remix) // White

Another thing that's well worth checking out is Luciano's remix of Salif Keita. A great amalgamation of interesting minimal beats and structure, with lovely cut up and affected instrumentation. So soothing... but it's still got a proper dancefloor kick and could inject some energy into a good late night/early morning set.

Salif Keita - Yamore (Luciano Remix) // Cadenza

And then we go from the relaxed dancefloor to the ultra boshing dancefloor! Seriously, this Duoteque track is a dancefloor killer. Their first EP showed an ability for a wide range of techno tracks, but when they bosh, they really bosh (as highlighted on the track 'Duoteque' on their first EP)! This is the A side to their latest EP, 'You Know All About Drags' and it's a guaranteed party starter.

Duoteque - Drug Queen // Boxer Sport

Here's the opening track to one of my favourite LPs of the year, Francisco's 'Music Business'. It starts with such a lush swelling piano intro, and then the sound all implodes into this relentless driving italo tune that is action packed with sound swooping in and out. Great ideas, great production, and the album is really varied without straying into 'dance artist does rubbish concept lp' territory.

Francisco - Big Love/Mega Love // Nature

This is Nathan Fake's first release on James Holden's Border Community label, and the sound harks back to the harsh sound of the techno on Warp back in the late 90's. Needless to say, it sounds impeccable, and I rate it as one of his best productions so far. Not sure how the album will pan out... has it even leaked yet?

Nathan Fake - Outhouse (Main Mix) // Border Community

We'll end with a track from the Kompakt Total 4 compilation, a lovely techno ballad with sweeping strings and a vocal so strong that it makes the German language into a beautiful thing for its duration. It's produced by one of the co-founders of Cologne's Kompakt label, Jurgen Paape.

Jurgen Paape - Mit Dir // Kompakt

I think that'll be enough for now. Until next time...