From Cosies to Koze...

It's been a good 3 days without a post, but we're finally back! Our little venture to London went surprisingly smoothly, and apart from a few minor things, a great time was had by all. Props go out to Koze & Lazarus for an excellent party, Lazerboy for putting us up, the guys at City16 for letting us listen to a ridiculous amount of records, and of course Simon Rigg who was celebrating his birthday in style at Stink. That is, if your idea of 'style' is galavanting around a club off your rocker! At Tape we passionately adhere to that code of debauched madness, and we went all out for what was apparently DJ Koze's first UK gig in 4 years. He certainly didn't fail to disappoint, his set chock full of varied, interesting and danceworthy tunes. Highlights included Egoexpress' 'Fool Of The New City', Pepe Bradock's mix of Candi Staton going into some Theo Parrish tune, and Daft Punk's 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' mixed superbly with Pharrell's 'Angel' of all things! The last two fit together like a glove, but I almost wish that he mixed it out into something else. All because the ladies love... DJ Koze....

It was nice to see Lazarus being a bit more animated behind the decks, and he certainly rocked the place. No Eulberg mix of Pier Bucci this time around, but we were treated to a deep, dubby mix of Lindstrom's 'I Feel Space'. But who were the mystery remixers? It only took a dash over to the Rigg's corner to find out that it was none other than electro favourites of yesteryear, Tiefschwarz! They strip out the heavenly synths and stretch out the dark italo throb to transform the original into a druggy monster that I guess every London DJ worth their salt will be playing over the coming months. Ending his set with Ame's already classic 'Rej', he proceeded to take things down to a ridiculously minimal level for the highly disappointing encore. Come on Laz! Why not end things on a high? You had to take it too far didn't you?

Also disappointing was his refusal to play what we at Tape Towers view as the ultimate Speicher release, DJ Koze's 'Brutalga Square', even after we thrusted multiple defaced posters into his face demanding its outing. It's simply majestic techno music; marvel as Koze's complex micro-rhythms (just check those clicks that come in at 4:13) entwine themselves with the relentless kick as it builds and builds until the track reaches its inevitable mammoth drop that will have the whole room 'shuffle-hausing'!

Download:
DJ Koze - Brutalga Square // Kompakt Extra
Buy 'Speicher 20' from City16 or pick up the full length, 'Kosi Comes Around' from Phonica

At last the DFA have unveiled a fresh new signing; long overdue in my opinion, but I guess Goldsworthy and Murphy have been a bit busy with all the super-long remixes they've been releasing of late. Shit Robot is the moniker of Marcus Lambkin from Stuttgart and he's about to unveil his delicious debut 12" on DFA very soon. I for one will definitely be grabbing a copy when they hit the shelves, and I urge you all to do the same. A-side 'Wrong Galaxy' is a wonky chunk of cosmic-electro, but I've put the b-side 'Triumph' up for your delectation. As with 'Brutalga Square', it's another track that builds itself up to a fantastic climax, this time layering the synths atop the DFA-esque percussion until it bursts into a euphoric stoner vibe with its quirky guitar motif and hypnotic vocal. The "you got it... yeah you got the Earth!" mantra (yeah Pitchfork, 'untranslatable' my arse) fits right at home with the mood of the track and rounds off an unmissable release to reaffirm DFA's place in both 2006 and my heart.

Download:
Shit Robot - Triumph // DFA

Even though they've remixed each other and Apparat (pictured above) has released on Bpitchcontrol (Ellen's label), the last two people I'd expect to collaborate would be Ellen Allien and Apparat (EDIT: Apparat has also co-produced on her 'Berlinette' LP, but this is the first time they've recorded together as a joint project). But that's exactly what they've done, and the results will appear on forthcoming full-length 'Orchestra Of Bubbles', released on Bpitchcontrol in April. 'Do Not Break' is an excellent showcase for the soundclash that stems from Ellen's trancey influences and Apparat's skittish production talents, but don't be fooled into thinking that the LP's all this style. All tracks are all varied and interesting pieces in their own right, and it seems that Apparat has been able to control Ellen's tendencies to, well, be somewhat boring a lot of the time. That's not the only shock though... there's even a dubstep track on the album, believe it or not!

Download:
Ellen Allien & Apparat - Do Not Break // BPitchcontrol

The next juicy slice of mp3 action comes from Scotland's Williams. His first release since his massive 'Piccadilly Circuits' (featured on M.A.N.D.Y's 'Full Body Workout' mix) proves him as quite a chameleon producer, slowing the tempo right down to create 'Pinball', a tech-italo masterpiece. Yup, it's got all those usual elements (the bleepy arpeggiated synth, the fat yet elasticated stabbing bassline), but both this and 'Do Not Break' it has what a lot of producers are forgetting about in the minimal heyday of today, a killer melody. Clocking in at only 4 minutes 16 seconds, it also never outstays its welcome. What'll probably happen is that it'll get ignored cos it's not being released on Get Physical, and Williams'll go back to producing banging techno by numbers which would be a crying shame as this is obviously a talented yet eclectic producer dying to be given the chance to showcase all his influences. Williams? Tech-italo-pop? Who'd have thought?

Download:
Williams - Pinball (Original Mix) // Tsuba
Buy 'Pinball' from Phonica or City16