Hell sounds great

Chelonis R. Jones is not the source of a great deal pleasure for me. Nor is DJ Hell. The first man's postmodern plastic soul schtick just doesn't tick my boxes, and serves as a kind of brutal restatement of the fact that Booka Shade, his producers, were the musical force behind Aqua's 'Barbie Girl' (though a. is that just an urban myth? and b. chelonis does NOT sound like Aqua. Fair's fair). In short, I guess I despise soul. That sounds like a heavy thing to say. By this I don't mean that I hate the Temptations, Sam Cooke, James Brown and their esteemed ilk (for a start, those fellas actually had soul). But, near-sighted though I might be to think it, I do hate it when 'soul' infiltrates dance music - it makes me stop dancing, it makes me feel stupid and seriously unmoved. Such is the condition of the electro generation. Hell, meanwhile, is the antithesis of soul. Though he's the spiritual godfather of 90% of the music I love, I've never felt obliged to venerate him unduly for it: I'm just a touch too young to have got the whole Gigolos thing, and though the label and its influence still reverberates about my hips, decks and ipod, I can't bring myself to respect the man himself. Michael Mayer is my DJ Hell. Or something. Anyway, as you may have guessed, Hell has remixed Chelonis on a new Get Physical 12" and I really like what's emerged. OK, Jones' voice still grates a little bit, but the production is really nice - housey as fuck but with an unexpected Metro Area thing going on. I find it hard to believe that Hell was behind this, God bless him, so big up whoever the hell (no pun intended. i wish it was...) engineered this. It's really nice, and I'm too hungry to adequately explain why. Listen:

Download:
Chelonis R. Jones - Deer In The Headlights (DJ Hell Remix) // Get Physical



Yesterday I suddenly remembered that the Soft Pink Truth's 'Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want The Soft Pink Truth' actually exists, and that I didn't dream it up in a moment of idle genius. A classic album, in many ways, and certainly a fantastic document of consummate, self-consuming musical snobbery that could only have been made in the 21st century. Basically, The Soft Pink Truth, who's one of the dudes out of electronica rat-botherers Matmos, decided to do a covers album of classic post-punk and US hardcore songs from the late 70s/early 80s. A bunch of vocalists were enlisted to camp it up nicely, but it's the ludicrously good production that endures to this day...Dystopian punk covers in a sub-rattling, electro-dubstep punk-funk fashion? How spot-on is that? Well, how many hyphens are required to describe it? I'm surprised it wasn't bigger when it came out, maybe 'twas just too clever for people who now treat Hot Chip like they've just wiped out world poverty (hey, when I heard 'Over & Over', I kinda slipped...). Certainly I ignored 'Do You Want New Wave...' when I first heard it. But anyway, the point is that this shit is fierce, danceable, indie-as-fuck and absurdly referential - if you get it, you'll feel smug for it, even a coupla years on. What's not to like? Have a trio of tracks on the house, but track down the LP if you like what you hear or SPT will hunt you down, lock you in a maze and sample your screams...

Download:
The Soft Pink Truth - Out of Step [Minor Threat] // Soundslike

The Soft Pink Truth - Do they owe us a living? [Crass] // Soundslike

The Soft Pink Truth - Real Shocks [The Swell Maps] // Soundslike

And just to keep the techno end up, here's a bit of bleak, funkische minimal in the form of the Wighnomys' classic mix of Triola. Nice. Have to go out now, so I'm rather distracted - expect some more intensive posting when I return home pissed.

Download:
Triola - Leuchtturm (Wighnomy's Polarzipper Mix) // Kompakt