Whatever I want

Yo. What an evening. But you mercenary bastards don't want to hear about it, you just want more mp3s. Don't we all...Before I go on, though, let me say a couple of things - firstly, many thanks to Philip Sherburne for the props he's given us on his splendid site. I can say without prejudice that Philip is one of the best music writers around, contributing to Wire and Pitchfork among many others, and is one of the very few to give modern techno its critical due; so if you haven't checked out his fine jottings before, now's the time.

Secondly, due to popular demand, I'm going to start using Yousendit to post my mp3s. I haven't just been using Rapidshare 'cos I'm a cantankerous, mean old bastard; it's just that it uploads quicker and I've been posting so many tracks recently that speed has been of the essence. From this point on I will strive to make life easier for you by YSIing things, but don't hate me if I occasionally resort to my old Rapidshare ways. Love's a two-way thing.

OK. Let's get on with it.

While Carnage isn't making awful puns ('Give it to me Tejada'?!) and quoting Front Room's dishwater press releases, he's seeking out and recommending to me some seriously good tunes (as well as, I'm careful to stress, being a fine gentleman and exceptional DJ). The other day he gave me Zdar's mix of Telepopmusik and I listened to it whilst trying soulfully to remove a v.stubborn tomato sauce stain from a dinnerplate. I was mightily impressed. It's been around since last summer (the song, not the stain) so it's nothing new, but this is the first I've heard of it, and the plaintive strings and restrained, beatless acid sounds are a total winner here at Tape Towers. Zdar's a funny one; some of his remixes and productions are godawful, some sublime - he treads the same thin line occupied by his countrymen Digitalism, Daft Punk, Braxe and Falke, in that his tendency to turn out spangly, glossy boshers day in day out is what makes ands breaks him. So let's applaud the rare self-control on display here, 'cos god knows another retro, saccharine synth explosion from Zdar HQ is on its inexorable way.

Download:
Telepopmusik - Into Everything (Zdar Dub) // EMI

God. What else? Before I say anything, it wouldn't hurt to assert just how good that Terje mix of Lindstrom is. So fat. I mean, it's basically the last word on disco....for the time being (is tha a contradiction?). I hope Lindstrom raises him game for his next single - I feel this battle has some more dancefloor casualties yet to claim. Speaking of over-hyped Balearic types, what gives with the whole Whatever We Want micro-industry? This label has been heralded beyond all reason as the epitome of NY cool, and I can't help but feel that a significant reason for this is the ludicrously small amount of vinyl they're pressing up for each release. Still, it would be disingenuous for me to deny that there's been some quality smells wafting from their wax, in particular from Quiet Village, aka Quiet Village Project. Matt Edwards from Radioslave is the production maestro behind these impeccably laid-back, smugly allusive records; 'Can't Be Beat', which I've posted below, is a grainy, sweetly cheesy, string-laden cloud of candy-floss (am I mixing my metaphors here or what?) for comedowns, shakedowns, hoedowns and, er, eiderdowns (ok, too much), spoiled only by the 'hilariously' pitched-down vocal sample which pops up all over it. Still, this, along with QV's recent single 'Too High To Move/Drax', goes some way to explaining the fervour surrounding Whatever We Want's every calculated move.

Download:
Quiet Village - Can't Be Beat // Whatever We Want