Six of the best

Before you ask, the man in the picture above is Carnage. What, you think he spends all his time listening to music? He’s got to let off steam once in a while, and what better way than to really let rip with a cane on a willing lil’ boy’s bottom?

Ok, that’s not Carnage. I don’t know who it is; it’s eternally amazing what innocent Google image searches will dredge up from the internet’s smutty depths. There is a link though, and it’s that I simply can’t be bothered to write a full top 10 of current sure shots for you, and so I’ve settled for six – six of the best.

Before you check that out, let me draw your attention to the new TAPE myspace. Up till now, Puffin, Carnage and I have each had our own little 'space, but I thought it time we work up a page dedicated solely to TAPE and its reprobate activities, so there you have it – www.myspace.com/tapemetoyourleader - become our friend, why don’t you.

And because I love you, there’s a brand spanking new Audion on Spectral Sound for you to download. Absolutely no reloads, so if you want it be fast. Also, if you do download it, don’t FOR FUCK’S SAKE keep it in your shared folder. Let’s try and keep this blogging thing on the road by being responsible and not just spunking away an artist’s income just so you can improve your Soulseek rating or whatever. You can do that just as well with porn. So download, listen, play to your friends, don't share it with the world and buy the record when it comes out. Ok?


LCD SOUNDSYSTEM – NORTH AMERICAN SCUM (ONASTIC DUB BY JAMES MURPHY & ERIC BROUCEK) // DFA/EMI

Fucking hell, have you heard this? It’s King Kong huge. Michelle McManus huge. The original, as you pesky “internet seekers” probably already know, is a little too concertedly anthemic and radio-friendly to be taken seriously (and as likely to soundtrack ghoulish frat parties as discerning discos), but this rework, done by Bearface and, rather than Tim G, Eric Broucek (that’s Eric Rug, right?), is exactly the kind of 10 minute, trippy dub-disco odyssey that you like awake at night dreaming of [EDIT: as Tal has pointed out, Eric B is not Eric Rug but rather James Murphy's studio bud, a different chap altogether]. Very limited whites doing the rounds, so limited in fact (Phonica got a mere ten copies in yesterday) that you may now have to wait for the proper 12” release. Whatever - by hook or by crook (probably crook, knowing you, you loveable mp3-hustling swine), you need to hear this. P.S. Apparently ‘Sound of Silver’ is being entirely re-worked by Tim Goldsworthy. It’s working title is ‘Sound of Gold(sworthy)’. Seriously. Not seriously.

CORTNEY TIDWELL – DON’T LET THE STARS TANGLE US UP (EWAN PEARSON LONG VOCAL MIX) // CD-R

I found this track pretty unbearable when I first heard it, thinking it was another petit electro-pop indulgence on the part of Pearson and finding the vocal a little too Bjork-gets-over-sugared for my taste. Couple of weeks later, and this has cemented itself it in my rotting, permanently vibrating brain as a bona fide anthem and powerful puller of heartstrings. The vocal’s a grower, it has one of those off-kilter melodies that you can’t quite track at first, but it’s the good taste and dancefloor-effectiveness of the production that makes it work. Suitably celestial synths, a hint of Border Comm narco-trance and gritty minimal beats – blah blah, this is shit hot vocal house for the 21st century. And unlike, say, Ewan’s ‘disco odyssey’ (aka ‘disco atrocity’) re-rub of Goldfrapp, this track makes use of every one of its twelve or so minutes. Essential listening.

NICO PURMAN – EP // CROSSTOWN REBELS

I wasn’t too taken with Jamie Jones’ recent debut offering for Crosstown, though lead track ‘Panic’ did rather creep up on me and, for sure, it sounds heavy-duty on a heavy-duty system (I also have to say that I harshly and hastily dismissed Jones as a DJ somewhere in these pages last year – having heard him play at T-Bar last week, I have to say – the boy knows what he’s doing behind the wheels). Still, I was far from blown away from the ‘Panic’ EP, let it be known. For all their enduring preoccupation with reduced tech-house, the Rebels’ finest moments have always, for me, been their unexpected curveballs – ‘Speechless’, ‘Shake Off’, ‘Laid Back Snack Attack’, ‘Safari’ (and all the mixes), MJ’s mix of Hiem, etc etc. Ok, so I adore Pier Bucci probably as much as anyone on God’s earth, but there’s a busy-ness and individuality to his productions that really distinguishes them from the trackier, less colourful fare of, say, 3 Channels. Anyway, this new EP from Argentinian Nico Purman sounds on first listen to be totally disposable, but give it a chance and you’ll unearth some tasty potatoes…Lead track ‘Lunatique’ has a nice loping, spacious groove, with nice analogue stabs and effects; the second track is so dreadful I can’t even remember its name; but closer ‘Voodoo’ is a wonderfully menacing, conga-infused trip that isn’t a million miles away from the mighty Pier Bucci. Well worth checking. Oh, and lookout for other forthcoming Rebels business: a typically strong Rebelone release in Vinyl’s ‘The Weasel’ (though not a patch on the impeccable Latex 12”), and trippy tech-house in the form of Dan Berkson’s ‘The Hollow’ (unveiled, oddly enough (or perhaps not oddly at all), on Mr C’s new ‘Superfreq Express’ CD).

SHACKLETON – BLOOD ON MY HANDS (VILLALOBOS REMIX) // SKULL DISCO

A bit of a debate erupted last week regarding the suitability of 9/11 as the subject matter for a house track. I take the point, but I think that question is so far removed from what this track is, what Shackleton intended it to be originally, and what Villalobos intended to make of it that I feel there’s little point on dwelling the matter. If you find it an uncomfortable fusion of tragedy and 4x4 euphoria then, well, fair enough. Arguably that tension is what makes this track so powerful musically, but…To be honest, I’ve not heard it out and I doubt I ever will. Despite Villalobos’s frequent appearances in London, I very rarely have the disco energy required to hang on for his performances (Fabric had a lock-in last week, with Retardo playing well into Sunday to a couple of hundred people in Room 3. One source described entering the room as akin to walking in on a riot in a lunatic asylum. I had been out the night before, but by this stage on a Sunday I was tucking into a fry-up ahead of a poncey stroll through Mayfair. I am what I am. I think it’s the cold – take me to Spain or suchlike and I can nap and eat and take hideous amounts of narcotics and not once lose the will to live. In England, I find myself uttering the words “Fuck this, let’s a get a taxi” all too often.)


FAZE ACTION – IN THE TREES (C2 REMIX) // JUNO

Described by one esteemed record store proprietor as “the Tesco of record stores”, Juno’s impersonal, wholesale approach to music-vending has always been ideologically disagreeable, if practically-speaking indispensable. Anyway, they’ve been in the business for x number of years now (I forget) and have decided to celebrate this landmark anniversary with a bunch of reissued classics, backed up with new remixes. First up, Faze Action’s classic Balearic groover ‘In The Trees’, credited by some as the (unwitting) instigator of nu-disco ‘movement’ (of which our Lindstroms and Terjes are only late contributors to). Anyway, after destroying dancefloors and moving minds with his remixes of Delia & Gavin, Goldfrapp and Rhythm & Sound last year, Carl Craig steps up with a ferocious, exquisitely-styled electro-house version. Driven by a deep, dirty synth riff and tough 4x4, it’s a real call-to-arms that instils in this listener an intense and immediate desire to chuck a load of pills down my throat, dance very intently and seriously, and make ill-advised sexual advances on the nearest stranger. In short, everything a young man wants from house music but all too rarely gets these days. After five or so minutes of techno grind, Craig cleverly admits the lush strings of the original, uniting past and present in a juddering furnace of red-hot dancefloor power. This is, quite obviously, going to be massive.

KLAXONS – GOLDEN SKANS (EROL ALKAN’S SPEKTRAL DUB) // RINSE

So this is where I’m supposed to rant about nu-rave and how it doesn’t exist and is ridiculous. Ok, it doesn’t exist, it is ridiculous, and yes, it has just been dreamt up by bored stylists and music journalists to pass cocaine comedowns and generate revenue. But look, Klaxons are actually pretty good – not as good as the media would have you believe, but decent all the same. I’ll take Erol’s instrumental rework over the original of ‘Golden Skans’ any day, however. A companion piece to his shimmering, seminal version of Hot Chip’s ‘Boy From School’, this is strung-out, dubby mid-paced house with witty rave flourishes and drum fills and an understated melody that’ll get right under your, er, skan. Sidestep the silliness and the hype, and pick up this 12” – you really can’t go wrong.

Also highly recommended…

RITON – HAMMER OF THOR (ROMAN FLUGEL REMIX) // SOUVENIR
MINILOGUE – ELEPHANT’S PARADE EP // WAGON REPAIR
VINYL – THE WEASEL // REBELONE
A MOUNTAIN OF ONE – A MOUNTAIN OF ONE // A MOUNTAIN OF ONE
LEE JONES – THERE COMES A TIME (ORIGINAL & PRINS THOMAS REMIX) // AUS
GUI BORATTO – CHROMOPHOBIA LP // KOMPAKT
HALF HAWAII – IN TO YOU / OUT OF YOU // PERLON
TONY ALLEN – OLE (MORITZ VON OSWALS REMIX) // HONEST JONS
MALA – HUNTER // DMZ
DORFMEISTER VS MDLA – BOOGIE NO MORE (REVERSO 68 REMIX) // G-STONE
MARIE BOINE – VUOI VUOI ME (HENRIK SCHWARZ REMIX) // UNIVERSAL
JACAPO CARRERAS – OLANTO (LEE JONES REMIX)
TOBIAS – DIAL EP // LOGISTIC

Download:
Audion - I Gave You Away // Spectral Sound **EXPIRED**