Us Mutantes

Yet again I’ve been very lazy in updating this bloody thing, but I’ve been slightly preoccupied with nursing my poor brain after Friday night’s Mutant Pop shindig down at the Arc. Thanks to everyone who came down to have a little jig, including all our regulars (you know who you are!). Everything seemed to go strangely right with this one, which was a pleasant surprise. First off, it was already fairly busy at around 11, everyone played an absolute blinder, and there was a really smooth flow to the night as far as the musical policy was concerned.

First up was the every reliable Puffin Jack, gracefully gliding through disco, cerebral house and minimal techno for the first couple of hours. I remember very little from the music early on, but I can recall shaking my booty to the Tim Sweeney edit of ‘Night Flight To Venus’ while shimmying around putting posters up, and also a bit of pint supping and foot tapping to Electronic’s ‘Getting Away With It’. Proper feelgood homo-house!

Download:
Electronic - Getting Away With It // Factory

Other highlights were Jesse Rose & Rob Mello's 'Do You Wanna' (which features on Puffin's mix from back in May), and Greg Wilson's 'Electric Eel'. I've banged on about this Streets/Prodigy edit in one of my previous charts - you should definitely pick this up if you see it lying around.

I was next up, and soon realised that there wasn’t really going to be any time to drop it down since the dancefloor was assembled and they needed a good kick up the arse to get themselves moving. Commencing proceedings with the irresistible bouncing staccato bassline of Rob Mello’s mix of Subjekt (which features on Damian Lazarus’ essential ‘Rebel Futurism’ mix CD), things went up from there as the dancefloor swelled and boogied the night away.

Download:
Subjekt - Step Back (Rob Mello's No Ears Dub) // Crosstown Rebels

Gavin Herlihy’s debut on Moodmusic (see my current chart) went down really well, as did Dirk Technic’s techy stomper from 2004 on 10 Kilo. It possesses a ridiculously heavy drop halfway through that’s bound to get both the gurners and the girlies’ feet a moving.

Download:
Dirk Technic – I Love You // 10 Kilo

The Tape anthem that is ‘Warehouse Shit’ (played last month during Matt Waites' incendiary set) just had to come out, and it was at that point that I had an unlabelled CD-R thrust into my hands by Puffin. It happened to be a new track by our good friend October, although the poor lad was a little too spun out to stick around and hear its debut outing. He’s been listening to house and techno more and more over the past year, and this is his first production that really showcases his newfound sound. Endearingly, he’s named it after us guys (aww, how sweet!), so if it was rubbish we’d probably love it anyway. The reality is that it’s anything but; it's a 10 minute jacking yet broody arpeggiated monster (imagine a bastard child of Innervisions and Poker Flat and you're halfway there) that even in the form of it’s first rough mix kept the dancefloor grooving for its full duration while dropping things down a level. Actually, pretty much anything is going to drop things down after 'Warehouse Shit', but you know what I mean. Unfortunately I’m not allowed to post up the full thing here yet, but Jules has given me the green light to post a couple of 128kb clips for your delectation.

Download:
October – Tape (Clip 1) // CD-R
October – Tape (Clip 2) // CD-R

Things were rounded off with the triple whammy of Ame’s Akabu mix, Ananda’s ‘Doppelwhipper’ and Underworld’s ‘Rez’, before passing the techno baton over to the very capable hands of Mr Gareth Watkins. Here’s my full setlist for anyone who was there and wants to pick up some of the tunes:

Subjekt - Step Back (Rob Mello's No Ears Dub) // Crosstown Rebels
Tekel - Smet // Initial Cuts
Ada - I Love Asphalt // Areal
Gavin Herlihy - Machine Ate My Homework // Moodmusic
Extrawelt - Soopertrack // Border Community
Dirk Technic - I Love You // 10 Kilo
Induceve - Warehouse Shit // Dubsided
October - Tape // CD-R
Akabu - Phuture Bound (Ame Remix) // ZR
Gabriel Ananda - Doppelwhipper (Live) // Platzhirsch
Underworld - Rez // TVT

Gaz pulled out all the stops to seal the deal on one of the best Mutant Pops so far, and his usual anthems were given their rightful airings. Chardronnet’s ‘Eve By Day’ swept the crowd into ecstasy, and by the time that Michael Mayer and Reinhard Voigt’s ‘Transparenza’ hit, the rave siren actually made a bit of sense rather than falling a bit flat as it did when it was played back in June.

Download:
Michael Mayer & Reinhard Voigt - Transparenza // Kompakt Extra

So no animals this time (that's if you don't count the gurned up Bristolians), but a great party all the same. Come and check us out next month when we'll be hosting....

...yes, if you hadn't already guessed from the massive poster above, we'll be hosting London's favourite Italian minimalists, Italoboyz. Don't expect any italo, just cardigans and scarves aplenty as 333/Fesh residents Marco Donato & Federico Marton bring their inimitable brand of techno chic over to Bristol's Arc Bar. If you're not aware of them already then you should check out the three 12"s that have been put out on three separate quality labels (that'll be Einmaleins, Treibstoff, and French label Safari Electronique). On ther other hand, you could just dive into these two live mixes that they've made available for us to see the true damage that they'll do to the dancefloor.

Download:
Italoboyz - Live at Modern Actions in Zigfrid (23/07/06)

Download:
Italoboyz - Live at Aquarium in London (21/05/06)

If you can't wait til then for your Tape fix, then you can see myself and the Puffin playing at Buoyancy this Saturday supporting Riton and Gucci Soundsystem. It's at Timbuk2 on Small Street, and we'll be playing from about 10 til 12:30 in the main room. We'll be ditching the disco so expect quirky minimal, deliciously deep house, some dark techy business and a few new school acid bangers. One thing that I'll almost definitely be playing will be Mock & Toof's latest offering, 'Suck', which can currently be streamed over at their Myspace. Mock described it as 'really simple weird leftfield 4/4 at a bpm crack addicts would appreciate', and it's a juicy slice of malevolantly monged throbbing acid that'll send the most teetotal of people into their own little K-hole. A highly enjoyable K-hole, however!

Bonus MP3s:
I wasn't even aware of this little gem from Luciano until I downloaded it last week. Originally released on Mental Groove back at the tail end of 2002, just like Ronseal, it's exactly what it says on the tin. A rejig of the music from Yann Tiersen's heartwarming film, it's breaksy minimal that errs just on the right side of good taste. A perfect way to inaugurate your girlfriend into the world of techno!

Download:
Luciano - Amelie (Remix 2) // Mental Groove

I'm sure that a lot of you have been waiting eagerly for this, and will be glad to know that Trentemoller's debut full length is finally upon us. 'The Last Resort' drops in early October, and looks like it's going to be a really nice package. In an LCD Soundsystem vein, the first copies will be limited edition and feature all of his Poker Flat and Audiomatique tracks on the second disc, alongside vocal mixes of two of the album cuts. He's chosen to make the first disc instrumental only, and from first listens it sounds like much more of a home listening experience than the disappointing halfway house that was Booka Shade's 'Movements'. I still need to give it a better hearing, but I'm fairly pleased with how it's been going down chez Carnage. The first track in particular grabs my ears and gives them a good workout. The usual Trentemoller trademarks are there; the crisp rhythmic beats, cutting out all the accompanying sounds to leave the percussion flying solo, the sharp atmospheric synths - but the unexpected elements are equally as appealing. Just check the part with the live drums, pedal steel and strings about 4 minutes in - simply gorgeous stuff. Expect this to be soundtracking your 5am comedowns later this year.

Download:
Trentemoller - Take Me Into Your Skin // Poker Flat