Technotastic

Time for your weekly Viva Radio supplement, and as promised we're back to the technotastic sounds this week. Seeing as I did a little rant last week, I thought I'd do the same this time around. Think of it as your new releases roundup with a few nice surprises in there. Kicking things off we've got a hot exclusive from Bristol based producer October (you might have heard 'Tape' and 'There's A Glitch In My Soup' on here before). 'Homosapiens' is currently being courted by a few labels, so expect a proper version of this to be hitting the shelves of your local electronic emporium early on next year. A driving, deep, pulsing workout; it's a perfect set starter if you want to capture that moody late night vibe. For more info on Bristol's boy wonder, head over to his Myspace here.

We're big fans of Steve Barnes at TAPE HQ, and his latest Cosmic Sandwich offering is predictably excellent. Skittish percussion, mad effects, and a bumpin' bassline that'll wobble that dancefloor to the core. Following that we've got Will Saul, who's been busy this year sorting out his Simple label along with launching his new Aus imprint (check the two Sideshow releases and the My My single - pure quality). He's had his time to play the label boss, but now's his time to get working the floor again. The Isolee mix on the flip of 'Pause' is very enjoyable with it's warm synths and bubbling percussion, but it's the original that I'll be playing out with it's wonky Mathew Jonson-esque bassline and intricate drum loops.

Minilogue are responsible for one of the 12"s of the year with their emotive epic 'The Girl From Botany Bay'. and 'City Boy' is the choice cut from their Crosstown Rebels debut, 'Hitchhiker's Choice'. Imagine a Trentemoller production that has both the subtlety of his debut album and the power to level a floor, and you'll be nearly there. It's a far cry from '...Botany Bay' as far as its darker atmosphere is concerned, but still has all the twists and turns to keep you hooked.

Makossa & Megablast's 'Porque' is a slice of quirky arpeggiated tech house with a cross channel bassline to die for. If you want some sultry, spaced out business that'll keep everyone dancing then you've found what you're looking for. The other tracks on there are equally as impressive, especially the toughened up cosmic workout of 'Galaxy 82'.

After flitting between labels and pseudonyms like Colin Farrell does with the ladies, it's time for the Audiofly boys to pump some musical loving into Get Physical's roster. There's three solid tracks on there, but 'Are We There Yet?' is the one that does it for me with its hazy synth washes and rhythmic bleep action. Hell, the last couple minutes sound like a remix of their 'Full Of You' track as Sleeper Thief, but I'm definitely not complaining.

Next up is an alternative version of 'Angel' from Carl Craig. I don't really have to tell you how great this is, do I? Lush sleazy deepness that saves playing its trump card until the closing couple of minutes.

Bit of a bastard of a track, this one. An instrumental cover of an 80s classic, with a covered vocal of another 80s classic on top... Confused? Justus Kohncke's 2005 classic 'Timecode' was of course a version of Lipps Inc's 'How Long', and this version sees Swedish songstress Marit Bergman (pictured above) adding her svelte Madonna-esque tones to the mix. The song she fits over the top is of course 'Rent' by the Pet Shop Boys, and the two fit together perfectly to create an electro-pop masterpiece. I'm sure that I heard somewhere that someone had bootlegged Timecode with the original vocal from the Lipps Inc track - does anyone have a copy that they'd like to share?

Marcel Dettmann is an employee of the legendary Hard Wax record store, and with those credentials you'd be right to expect a lot from his records. A-side 'Quicksand' is fairly standard Berlin fare - a wonked out skeletal arrangement that's supplemented by all sorts of whooshing noises and a subtle two note bassline, but it's the B-side that provides much more interesting and satisfying results. 'Getaway' is underpinned by an eerily sublime chord sequence which provides the backdrop for Marcel's constantly building snare-heavy percussion. Trance inducing after hours magic, indeed.

When Simon Rigg played Villalobos' remix of Depeche Mode's 'The Sinner In Me' at our last Mutant Pop party, me and Mr Soft found ourselves dancing in rapture with our arms on each other's shoulders. Just imagine the scene... actually don't. It's not a pretty sight. Ricardo (pictured above right, sober as a judge of course)lends his usual sparse yet intricate percussive backing to Dave Gahan's very suitable vocal, dropping in a cheeky bassline before kicking things back in twice as hard. I'm sure that there's a cut up snippet of 'Laura Palmer's Theme' in there as well. Great stuff from Ricky that never gets boring throughout its 13 minute length.

Over the last couple of months it seems like every time that me and Puffin are fairly battered in the wee hours, we slap on 'Dirt Road And A Boat From Soundwave'. A Speicher classic from last year, it's arguably one of Mathew Jonson's finest works to date. It sort of makes you wish that Mathew worked with The Mole (pictured left) more often, but if you read our interview with MJ, you'd already be aware that this isn't really a possibility at the moment. If you missed this one, or just forgot about how stunning those twinkling chords and big fat bassline are, then here's your chance to catch up.

The latest Innervisions release sees them take a decidedly more nu-disco direction, but it's still of the level of quality that we've come to expect from Sonar Kollektiv's treasured offshoot. Think of Metro Area on speed and you're halfway to imagining what Chateau Flight's 'Baroque' is actually like...

Not usually known for their relicensing of old tracks, last month saw Playhouse reissue a track from Swiss post punkers Unknownmix. Losoul and Jahcoozi were on hand to provide the mixes, and it's Losoul's sped up edit that comes out on top. He's very faithful to the fantastic original's sound and structure, toughening the drums and giving it more of a dancefloor groove.

To finish off, we've got a DFA remix that's been floating around on white label for quite a while now (both Nightmoves' Matt Waites and Mock played it in their Mutant Pop sets to rapturous dancefloors). This time they've been chosen to rework shoegazing indie-poppers Captain. I actually quite liked the original (their other material is rubbish - avoid at all costs), but why have cotton when you can have the silky smoothness of the DFA's arpeggiated stylings? The plinking synth always reminds me of 'World In Motion' for some reason, but England's constant World Cup failures are forgotten as soon as that simply MASSIVE one note bassline enters the mix. It's used in a really interesting rhythmic style, and compliments the sharp echoed synth stab perfectly. Definitely one of the best mixes that they've put their name to this year.

Here's the full tracklisting and listening link:

TAPE Radio - Show #10: 'Technotastic'
1) October - Homosapiens // CD-R
2) Cosmic Sandwich - Battle Twig // My Best Friend
3) Will Saul - Pause // Simple
4) Minilogue - City Boy // Crosstown Rebels
5) Makossa & Megablast - Porque // G-Stone
6) Audiofly X - Are We There Yet? // Get Physical
7) Carl Craig - Angel (Japanese Mix) // Planet E
8) Marit Bergman vs. Justus Kohncke - Rentcode // CD-R
9) Marcel Dettmann - Getaway // Ostgut Ton
10) Depeche Mode - The Sinner In Me (Ricardo Villalobos Conclave Remix) // Mute
11) Mathew Jonson & The Mole - Dirt Road And A Boat From Soundwave // Kompakt Extra
12) Chateau Flight - Baroque // Innervisions
13) Unknownmix - The Siren (Losoul's Hot Edit) // Playhouse
14) Captain - Frontline (DFA Remix) // EMI

Listen:
TAPE Radio - Show #10: 'Technotastic'

Apologies if all that writing's a bit shoddy - I knocked it off in a couple of hours, but I hope it gives you more of an idea about the tracks. The blog's been a bit barren of late apart from the radio show, but we've been busy boys playing with Shit Robot (pictured rocking it above) and The Juan Maclean last week. Cheers to the Monkey Knife Fight boys for having us down, and also cheers to the fantastic Al Dare and Microman for joining us on the wheels of steel. I didn't get to see too much of Juan, but I caught a good 45 minutes of Shit Robot's set and was heartily impressed by the man's selections and deft mixing. Particular highlights were Hug's 'The Happy Monster' and DJ Hell's remix of The Presets (if you'd passed this one over without listening to it like me then I recommend that you take a listen - no holds barred booming bass action, I tell you!), the former sending the crowd into a total frenzy like it should. Cheers to Marcus for sharing a chat and a cheeky smoke - the new LCD Soundsystem LP is 'amazing' apparently. But then he would say that, wouldn't he?