fivetones

New records

2009-04-17T02:27:00.001-07:00

Finally got off my backside to write some words about lovely music:

Culoe de Song - The Bright Forest - Innervisions

Wicked little debut. Two tracks (three on digital) all of high quality but it's the title track that kills it for me. Along the lines of the epic NY house sound (Sydenham/Chandler etc) but with just a little more UR to it. Proper awesome sound. It's hard to get an idea of what this sounds like from clips so check his RA podcast (with a preview of his upcoming Reggie Dokes remix on Boddhi Satva's label). This kid's still a teenager as far as I can tell - amazing.

BLM - Believe in Love - Fear of Flying
OK, rocking a 90s Detroit house style but this is done so nicely it's hard to resist. Arguably you could say this another UR inspired cut. I hanker for more house gear from the Submerge camp...

Trackleton - While My Sequencer Gently Weeps - Yore
Solid pulsating techno sounding a little like Osborne on a good day. OK, I'm not great shakes as a record reviewer but I love this :)

Nebraska - Satellite Variations - Rush Hour
More Nebraska awesomeness from Alistair Gibbs. These are older cuts that, given the style, should sound dated. They don't though, well worth picking up. There's also the Terrestrial Variations EP out too that I haven't picked up yet.

Kode 9 - Black Sun - Hyperdub
Like the 'broken' scene occasionally served up some proper techno so the dubstep scene does the same. Both tracks on this ep worth checking.

Martyn - All I Have is Memories - Apple Pips
OK, I'm well late but I like the airy summery vibe to this. In a slow mid-90s DnB way. 'Suburbia' on the flip is more on the dubstep vibe. Martyn also does house, check his mix of Ican's 'Caminos Del Ninos'.

SoundCloud

2009-03-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

I know, this blog is neglected but I intend to sort that out.

SoundCloud looks like an interesting site. Apart from the limits on the free account this looks neat.

http://soundcloud.comfivetones

2008-01-17T15:06:00.001-08:00

Been a while due to how busy I've been but here's some quick stuff:

Omar S - Psychotic Photosynthesis - FXHE
Wicked track but I seem have snagged a bad pressing. And in terms of value one-sided 12s suck.

Afefe Iku - Body Drumming - Yoruba
Blinding title track. Catchy and deep, beat that.

Luciano - études électroniques - Cadenza
Head for 'Masalla'. Sounding like Jamal Moss but with some grip on audio levels :)

Slowhouse - Slowhouse2 - Slowhouse Recordings
Three deep tracks. Nice.

Dubbyman - Dubtroit ep - Deep Explorer
Mike Huckaby mix on here. Two killer slow tracks from Dubbyman too.

Ovatow - XDub
More BC-alike tracks but nicely done all the same.

Eric D Clark - G Movimente - Detroit Wax
Kinda badly bass heavy but there's something about the original mix I like. The flip has an EFF and Niko Marks remix with added vocal about monkeys.

John Daly - Move/Oceans - Feel
More in the vein of the progressive-style stuff like Studio than his usual deep house gear but I like that style too.

Letroset - Herz Aus Glas - Point One
Don't buy much electro-ish stuff at the moment but this stood out.

Small Reviews

2007-11-17T02:56:00.000-08:00

I don't have the time for lengthy comments on this but here's what's burning up my iPhone:

STL - Nightgrooves - Something
Somewhere between the mnimal that is Detroit house and the minimal that comes from Europe. Worth a check. The last 12 he did on Something is killer too.

Mike Huckaby - My Life with the Wave - SYNTH
Mike just keeps getting better and better. One side the more raw BC style he rocks and the other wicked deep house.

Trusme - War - StillLove4TheMusic
The more direct B side hitting hardest for me.

Chow Daddy - Never Fade - Moxie
Alledgedly more Recloose edits. Moxie always come with the more useful edits.

Lerosa - Much Later - Uzuri
Leo needs to slow the releases but this rocks.

Tony Allen - Kilode - Honest Jons
Carl Craig remixes. More organic than tech but still shows the C2 touch.

Raiders of the Lost Arp - Beyond the Dark
Galaxy to Galaxy Mix! As ace as you'd expect.

Tommy Bones - Future Classic - Real Tone
Solid deep house. After the Club and Focused Energy the tracks for me.

Redshape - What's On a Moog's Mind
A split 12 with Len Faki. Some melancholy to the tech there.

Chymera - Shadowdancer - Ork
Wicked, almost proggy but simply beautiful techno.

More new vinyl, with scant comments:

Trusme - Working Nights - Fat City
LP from Manchester's hottest house producer. A couple of familiar tracks and some new.

NewWorldAquarium - The Dead Bears - Delsin
No words necessary. We've talked about this before. Beautiful.

Patrice Scott - Motions - Sistrum
New 12 from Patrice.

Metro Area 7 - Erodyne - Environ
Just in. Didn't know this was about.

Nebraska - Vicarious Disco - DownLow
Wicked 12 with great dub mix from Soul 223.

2007-09-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

Force of Nature - To the Brain - Mule Musiq
Bought this for the sublime 'Traderoute', slow and uplifting. Love this.

Hieroglyphic Being - I got enough love 4 u and me - Apnea
Jamal Moss gets it right maybe a 1/3 of the time for me (the harder more distorted numebrs aren't to my tastes really) but when he gets it right he gets it riiiight. Another haunting slow number along the lines of Sun God's "Bird Songs" or "Analog Codes".

Seiji - DJ Tools 1.1- Sonar Kollektiv
Labelled as tools but they still progress ok. Sometimes these broken beat producers make good techno (I lump Domu and Nubian Mindz into that too....yeah I know, late! - I forget sometimes) and a couple of the tracks on here are techno but not stretched out to 10 minute mixes. Velour and Rasberries (ok more house with a boogie) are standouts for me.

Mr G - UAskin - Rekids
Coming like a restrained "ardkore" with more straightforward house percussion. So, I get a bit bored of Mr. G's sometimes (I mean he loves that 909 ride, in every track). Sometimes though he does something nice and I like this.

Nubian Mindz - Aqua Mindstate - Delsin
OK well late on this but Aqua Mindstate hits the spot for me.

Shed - Those Kinky Dudes - Soloaction
I should like Shed's stuff more but things are always a little busy for me but 'Increase That' slows it down to a pace I can handle.

Rene Et Gaston - Merluche Ideale - ARTless
Wicked track (by the Zki and Dobre guys) remastered by 2000 & One.

Todd Osborn - Bingata - Running Back
Lovely techno in the classic Detroit mould. The flip has a remix by Pink Alert which is more in the Chicago house vein. Worth checking. I often overlook this producer (and a lot of the stuff that comes out on Spectral but sometimes they come up trumps.

Some more records

2007-06-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

OK I do plan to talk about more than records but until I get the time:

Quite a few new bits out over the last month or so and I haven't had chance to write about them. Before some of you shout 'late!' :), some of this is a few weeks old, some from last week.

Keith Worthy - She Loves Me Not - Aesthetic Audio
Follow up to Emotional Content. BeatTheBeatUp starts as a beat track but builds the depth as it progresses. The title track on the flip is a lovely rolling deephouse number but the other side steals it for me.

Lerosa - Ruski - Real Soon
Nice 12 from Real Soon, following in a similar vein to the Juju and Jordash 12 on the label. Midway between broken beat and beatdown in vibe it's
another great 12 from this label.

Juju & Jordash - Blue Plates - Real Soon
Two slow weird organic tracks. Check.

Herb LF - Miles - Farside
Miles (SoulPhiction Mix) is a lovely lilting piano based track, the pick of the 12 for me.

Keith Worthy/KSoul&Ra.H/Patrice Scott - Underground Anthems Vol.1 - Sistrum
Another great 12 from Sistrum, this time split with two artists other than Patrice. Keith Worthy here with an acidic take on his usual sound. KSoul and Ra.H and label owner offering up
two more rough deep tracks. If you've not got any tracks by these guys this 12 is a great place to start.

Aroy Dee - Lies - M>O>S
'Jive' is the track for me on here. The Comtron voiced 'Evil' dropping more of a Chicago house vibe. Quality.

Rick Wade - Shamballa - Yore
l love Rick's stuff, and this is a solid 12 but I'd like to hear him push his sound a little. That said, 'Shamballa' is a cracking track.

Deetron ft. DJ Bone - Life's Soundtrack - Music Man
RadioSlave remix is the mix that works for me. Very C2 in flavour but I love the moodyness of Bone's spoken vocal. There's a Redshape mix of this too but it doesn't grab me as much as
his other output.

KSoul&Ra.H - Doser004 - Morphine Records
OK so their sound is close to that of Omar S but who cares if it works this well?

Kelley Polar - Chrysanthemum EP - Environ
Magic Tim mix of Rosenband is the standout. I find some of the KP stuff a little twee but this mix (by the label owner?) works for me.

Trusme - What Tony Wants - StiLove4TheMusic
Not quite up with his awesome 1st 12 but still a nice edit/cutup 12. More summery this time. Check.

Omar S - Grandson of Techno008 - FXHE
With some percussion input from Theo Parrish another minimal (not mnml) house monster from AOS. He really pushes the loose unsynced approach here. Awesome.

2006 Chart

2007-06-13T05:53:00.000-07:00

Here's an attempt at a chart for 2006 that I never posted anywhere. May as well post it here.

2006 No order chart.

Larry Heard pres. Mr White - The Sun Can't Compare - Alleviated
Mark E - Smiling - Jisco
Robert Owens - Walk a mile - Henrik Schwarz Mix - NinjaTune
Don Williams - Orderly Kaos - Artless
ErellRanson - Empty Sky - AW Recordings
John Beltran - Going Home - Groovia
Substance & Vainquer - Substance - Scion Versions
Ron Trent - Love to the World - Future Visions
Redshape - Misc Usage EP - Delsin
Repeat Orchestra - The Making Of - Real Soon
Cobblestone Jazz - Peace Offering - Itiswhatitis

New Records

2007-05-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

Some reviews from 30.4.07 that I originally posted to 313. More reviews to come very soon.

STL - Something002
Blinding Hardwax related 12 with two kinda melancholic chicago house
style tracks. Probably the favourite thing I've picked up recently.

Move D - Workshop002
Wicked sounding follow up to the first Workshop 12. I love Move D
when he edges toward disco away from the mnml outings he has. He does
that on here. The two track side being the winner for me here.

Optic Nerve - Replica - Puzzlebox
Detroit techno, as you expect from KT. The remix of 'Celestial' is
ace, nice rolling bassline etc. (If you've been picking up Redshape
12s recently this is a must-check).

Keith Worthy - Emotional Content -Aesthetic Audio
Along the lines of a lot of beatdown house outta Detroit. 'Emotional
Content' particularly has that Omar S vibe. Nice 12.

Theo Parrish - Sound Scultures v1 - Sound SIgnature
Long awaited, super expensive 3x12 pack (equivalent of $44 in the
UK). Theo is a little hit and miss for me a lot of the time and some
of this is a little too experimental for me but when he gets it right
he really gets it right. Another nice thing to see is that there's
none of this distorted levels nonsense that afflicts some of his
earlier releases. The production overall is a big step up imo.
'Soul Control' is the star of the pack for me. Wonky, soulful, slow,
verging on techno, it's really hard to describe which is a good
thing. The hype track 'Synthetic Flemm' is also on here and that too
is a highlight as is the ugly edit style track, 'The Rink'. I've not
had chance to give the others as much of a listen yet but I'd say
this LP is a must-buy really.

KDJ - TechnologyStoleMyVinyle - KDJ35
Didn't like this from the short audio clips. More organic than I
prefer KDJ to be, in fact this 12 sounds like a DJ mix cutting in
between a live band track and something more electronic.

Casa Mena ft. Thom Yorke - The Clock
An off-kilter house track with the melancholy of Thom Yorke's vocals.
I picked this is up on impulse and it's slightly less straightforward
than I expected, a good thing.