Melbourne based record label, For The Record, have started off 2013 in stellar form with a bevvy of quality releases centering around the house, deep-house and progressive genres. Still somewhat in their infancy, they have shown an intuitive ear for great sounding underground dance music.
For FTR’s 12th release local Melbourne producer, Monsieur Ali, steps up to the plate for a three track EP of deep and varied 4/4 grooves. Tactfully taking a separate angle for each track, the release covers an enjoyable cross section of sounds. The aptly named ‘Know Not Fear (Deep Club Mix)’ follows a strict to-the-numbers approach with deep bass kicks and nice high snares – a catchy melody rounds things off, making it a sure-fire-winner for an earlier styled DJ set. The modest ‘Deep Sky (Minimal Sky Mix)’ strips things back a notch to create a hypnotic, yet intriguing number that rolls along without making too much fuss. The personal highlight of the EP comes in the form of the title track ‘Life On Record (Progressive Mix)’ – an upbeat piece that brings in an old-school prog feel. A nice heavy kick leads the track, whilst a catchy synth stab intricately weaves in and out.
Showing considerable potential Ali has done well in spilling forth a strong and extremely well executed EP – overall it’s fantastic to see such quality coming from such a young label and producer. If this EP is any indication, FTR and Ali are certainly destined for great things.
Life On Record EP is now available via Beatport. For further info visit ForTheRecordLabel.com
Filed under: Music, Reviews | 1 Comment
Tags: For The Record, Monsieur Ali
Hybrid – Classics Album
Yesterday saw pre-order’s go live on Distinctive Records website for Hybrid’s long awaited Classic’s album. A special edition 4 disc box-set, apparently only available via the Distinctive Recs website, the album relives some of the groups finest achievements since their first album, Wide Angle, was released in 1999. The 4 disc set covers every corner of the Hybrid spectrum featuring: Classics (with an exclusive remix of Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy the Silence’), Instrumental + Remixes, Orchestral, and Cinematic Soundscapes. The track listing is impressive, with a heap of hard to find remixes and unreleased material.
If you’re as big a fan as I am, you would’ve been pretty excited to hear the news that the album was now available to pre-order. Yet, when I jumped onto the Distinctive site I was confronted with a price tag I did not expect and an extremely shoddy web-store. Costing it up, including postage, it was going to cost over US$90 to get the 4 CD box-set delivered. Perhaps if it were a Vinyl release, I could justify the amount, but for a CD release I was a little bit skeptical. Distinctive fail to offer any extra information about the actual release, other than the track listing of the album – no information on the way its packaged or displayed, and definitely no photos of said box – yet they’re asking fans to cough up a premium figure. It just doesn’t make sense. Somewhat disillusioned by the whole fiasco, I did a little bit of digging and found out some interesting stuff via Hybrid’s Facebook page…
This is a limited edition box set which will only ever be available through Distinctive Records and maybe via our website if Distinctive will sell us some copies. Distinctive Records owns all our music and it is them who are organising and pricing this entire release, apart from our name at the top, the release has not been organised in any way by ourselves. We as yet don’t have the details of the extra CD that is being offered by Distinctive, which is why we can’t give you any more details. It may be hard to believe, but we are almost as in the dark as you are! We will pass your grievances onto Distinctive and we’re sorry that you feel ripped off.
With regard to the posting costs. It is a large item (over 12″ square) and will be of substantial weight (aprox 1kg), plus the materials to wrap the box securely and the time it takes to manually pack the item. It all mounts up and costs us money to do. We do understand that it may seem that we are over charging for the postage, but we really are doing our best to keep these prices as low as possible. I hope you understand that we appreciate your support, and it really isn’t us trying to charge excessive postage on a large and heavy item.
Shedding a bit of light on the issue, it helps to know that the box-set is substantial in weight, and size. It’s sad to hear that Hybrid haven’t really had any type of creative control over the release, which makes you question how much, if any, money they’ll see. Despite all of that, the album is impressive and more than likely to be the last album release we’ll see from the group – at-least under the Distinctive label!
Whilst you make up your minds here’s a snippet from their exclusive Depeche Mode remix:
And, of-course, the track list!
Classics01 Finished Symphony |
Instrumentals + Remixes01 Sinequanon (Instrumental) |
Orchestral01 Opening Credits |
Cinematic Soundscape01 This Is What It Means (Rewinded Edit) |
Filed under: News | 1 Comment
Tags: Classics, Distinctive Records, Hybrid, Wide Angle
In the pipeline for quite some time, and spurred on by the unique nature of the collaborative project in which Elite Force and Klaus Badult were commissioned to create a soundtrack for the PS3 game Motorstorm Apocalypse, the hype surrounding the Shockland album release has been huge, to say the least.
Following the progress of the album since it’s early announcement, I’ve been keeping a keen eye on how things have been progressing. Elite Force kept fans appeased with Youtube clips of the game during different production stages along with the then unfinished audio samples. Even at the early stages of production, it was obvious that we were in for something very special.
The game release came and went, and not owning a PS3 I felt rather disadvantaged at the fact I was going to miss-out on hearing some really fantastic music – imagine then my elation when a full length album release of extended and reworked versions of music from the game was announced. BRAAP!
So last month saw the monster drop. And what a drop it was! Blowing all expectations out the window, the album saw Elite Force move into dark and brooding, attitude driven, cinematic, bass-heavy beats territory – a sound we’ve seen him embracing in his solo production and remix work over the last year or so. It definitely shows that he’s at home with this type of sound, and his high-quality production techniques shine throughout – from the hard-as-nails breaks/dubstep crossover tunes like ‘Mercury Man’ and ‘Barrel Down’, to the Prodigyesque beat orientated stylings of ‘Headlong & Deepdown’, all the way through to the experimental and tripped-out offerings such as ‘Neurofunk’ and ‘The Horror‘.
And whilst Elite Force’s contribution to the project is quite significant, Klaus Badelt’s contribution must not be overlooked. For those unfamiliar with Badelt, he’s an Oscar-winning classical soundtrack composer who has worked on movies such as Pirates Of The Caribbean and Gladiator (to name a few). His influence throughout the album is quite obvious and really helps to add scope to EF’s bass-heavy production work. It’s a great team-up, and something that I’d never thought would work as well as it has. The light and shade that the pairing of the two brings is great, and definitely prompts for repeat listens.
For a taste of the album, EF has put up samples of the album on his Soundcloud. Check the player below for a taster of what to expect.
Adding to the madness, we also have an exclusive remix of EF’s which is similar in vein to the type of music contained on the soundtrack – bass-heavy dubstep breaks that are bound to destroy any and all dance-floors they encounter.
Free 320 download fo ya: Lalo Schifrin Vs Elite Force – Bullit Theme (Elite Force’s Dopestep Remix)
Anyway, if you like what you’re hearing in the samples above, make sure you show some support and buy it legit!
BUY SHOCKLAND DIGITALLY
BUY SHOCKLAND PHYSICALLY
Filed under: Albums, Downloads, Music, Reviews | Leave a Comment
Tags: Breaks, Dubstep, Elite Force, Klaus Badult, Shockforce, Soundtrack, U&A Recordings
The next edition in the Prognosis Promo series has just landed! Put together in prep for the June 18th event being held in sunny Melbourne, resident and highly talented Prog-bomber, Aaron Static, has stepped up to mix the third installment. Perfectly summing up the style of Prog-House Aaron has been pushing both in his production and DJing work, it’s a 60 minute journey full of exclusive unreleased tracks, along with a storming remix from the man himself.
And luckily enough, it’s available for free download! Full details below.
TRACK LIST:
01. Suke8 – Ancestros (Prema Van Smuuf Remix) [Indigo]
02. Arnold From Mumbai – Glitchy Bitch (Vipul Remix) [Dazzle On]
03. Ad Brown – Singapore Sling (Eitan Carmi Remix) [Indigo]
04. Luke Mandala – Angelic Uplift [Lohit]
05. 21street – Spirit Of The Streets (Steve Haines Remix) [Spherax]
06. Stanisha – Parallel Midnight (LoQuai Remix) [Mistiquemusic]
07. Oliver Morgenroth – Care (Lemon8 Rework) [Hyline]
08. Ad Brown – Elevator (Soundprank Remix) [Indigo]
09. MiracleBlue feat. Minette – Chance (Matan Caspi Remix) [Indigo]
10. Teana & Tiida – Coral Reef (James Warren Remix) [Spring Tube]
11. Dave Shtorn – Magic Moments (Aaron Static Remix) [Indigo]
DIRECT DOWNLOAD
FURTHER INFO
Filed under: Mixes, Music | Leave a Comment
Tags: Aaron Static, James Warren, Prognosis, Soundprank
Star Slinger, Slinger of…
New to my ears, Star Slinger popped up after a friend dropped me a recommendation on Facebook (thanks Ciaren!). All it really took was one listen and my interest was sparked. His sublime, melodic beats, weaved together with pitched up soul vocals, and on-point sampling, went down a treat. A quick trawl through his Soundcloud revealed a veritable treasure trove of high quality original productions and remixes.
A Manchester born 24 year old, Star Slinger has risen to fame in a relatively short amount of time. His releases over the scope of about two years have garnered interest from high end producers such as Diplo, Jamie XX and Benji B, to name a few. Hard to pin-point, his sound lays somewhere between hip-hop yet with an exceptional twist that hints towards an indie influence – almost bordering on that whole “chill-wave” sound that’s going on. Making great use of warm and enveloping synth and bass lines, his remixes are able to totally transform a track and make them into a uniquely sounding piece all his own. Not to be over shadowed, his original productions also stand tall and ooze with the same quality.
Sitting here after downloading 24 of his freely available tracks, Im astounded at the amount of music he’s been willing to give away for free. A sign of the times and the effect the digital age is having on producers, perhaps? Listening through it all, it stands out that SS’ productions are heavily reliant on sampling, and probably something that works against him when attempting a release. It’s comforting however to see him pushing Vinyl releases on a selection of his releases – an avenue I am a big fan of, and all too willing to support!
Anyway, I’ve listed some of my favourites from his Soundcloud page. If you like what you hear, go show him some support!
SOUNDCLOUD
FURTHER INFO
Filed under: Downloads, Music, Trax | Leave a Comment
Tags: Benji B, Chill Wave, Diplo, Hip-Hop, Indie, Jamie XX, Star Slinger
J-Slyde – White Noise Promo
Put together a one hour promo mix for the upcoming White Noise event on May 6th at First Floor. It’s a combination of all things breaks with both old and new tracks throughout. Due to the nature of the event and the fact that the White Noise krew are more known for their dark 4/4 genres, the idea was to cover as much Breakbeat related scope as possible whilst not going too underground. Starting out on a banger to grab some attention, the first half is funky and upbeat with some more commercial tracks thrown in – the last half covers the Progressive side of things.
If you like what you hear, ensure you make it down on the night! I’ll be on the decks from 12 midnight along with live musicians Ross Koger (Bass) and Toby Bender (Percussion). Should make for one rather interesting set!
TRACK LIST:
01. Alex Metric & Steve Angello – Open Your Eyes (Original Mix)
02. Dirty & Acid – Rock The Disco (Original Mix)
03. Moguai – U Know Y (Original Mix)
04. Dave Spoon feat. Lisa Maffia – Bad Girl (At Night) (Beat Vandals Remix)
05. Plaza De Funk – Get Crazy (Original Mix)
06. Deekline & Wizard – Handz Up (Stanton Warrrios Remix)
07. Plump DJs Vs Elite Force – System Addict (Revamped by Elite Force)
08. Unkle – Reign (False Profit Remix)
09. Neo – Aura (Cosmonaut Remix)
10. Chable & Bonnic – Ride (Have A Break Remix)
11. Ilya Mosolov – I Believe You May Fly (Original Mix)
12. Trafik – Your Light (Luke Chable Vocal Breaks Remix)
DOWNLOAD
FURTHER INFO
Filed under: Downloads, Mixes | Leave a Comment
Tags: Alex Metric, Breakbeats, Breaks, Elite Force, J-Slyde, Mix, Plump DJs, Steve Angello, Unkle
Woke up this morning to this Tweet:
ALL Dextro back catalogue releases, now available for FREE download @ Bandcamp in mp3, wav, & other file formats. Enjoy.
Needless to say this is BIG NEWS. For those unfamiliar with the brilliance that is Dextro you now have the chance to get extremely intimate with his entire back catalogue, completely free of charge! This is essential listening for any and all that are partial to chill-out and ambient music. By far Dextro is one of my favourite chill-out/ambient producers. Similar in sound to Boards Of Canada, Dextro is the moniker of Scottish producer Ewan Mackenzie. Primarily he produces music that takes on influences from a broad-range of genre’s from rock, folk music, ambient and electronica and rolls them all into a ball of warm heart-felt beats. His production has an epic cinematic feel that begs for you to let your mind wander and dream. Words don’t really do his music justice.
Instead allow me to introduce to you one of my favourite pieces: Destroy The Future Of All Mankind. Taken from his 2006 album Consequence Music:
Available for free download via his Bandcamp site are his two most famous albums Winded and Consequence Music along with his Zero Circle E.P and a demo CDR from 2002 titled Cymbalic. All highly deserving of a look-in.
To download for free simply put in a “0″ payment amount after you click the “Buy Now” link.
DOWNLOAD
Further Info:
Official Website
Twitter
Filed under: Albums, Downloads, Music | Leave a Comment
Tags: Ambient, Chillout, Dextro
Teebs – Unreleased 2009 CDR
Since his debut album Ardour, Teebs has been converting ears to his unique take on the glitch genre. Taking a somewhat ambient approach he’s created a genre within a genre. Ambient, sublime and laid-back disjointed beats that meld beautifully to create an urban landscape with organic overtones. I’ve been a convert since I was first introduced and have been closely following his progress since.
A few weeks back he released a limited edition hand-painted B-Sides counterpart of a selection of out-takes and remixes from Ardour. Only 150 were made and they sold out in under a day. For those that were unlucky enough to miss out on securing one you’ll be happy to know that Teebs has now made available a previously unreleased CDR from 2009. Similar in vein to the B-Sides release, the unnamed 2009 CDR contains a total of 10 tracks containing a selection of unreleased pieces and alternate versions of music that didn’t originally make the cut for Ardour or the B-Sides.
Never intended to see the light of day, whats contained within gives a glimpse into the journey his music has taken and how it has transformed in the lead-up to the release of his phenomenal debut album.
TRACK LIST:
1. M.A.H. BBC Radio 1 Mix. (15 mins)
2. Cook, Clean, Pay The Rent
3. Untitled 4
4. Humming Birds (unmastered)
5. Wind Loop
6. Youve Changed (unfinished cut)
7. Hi Hat. (unreleased populous remix)
8. Personal Winter
9. Blessed Assurance
10. Monterey Park Bells
DOWNLOAD
FURTHER INFO
Filed under: Albums, Downloads, Music | Leave a Comment
Tags: Chillout, Download, glitch, Glitch-Hop, Teebs
DnB holds a special place in my heart. A genre I’ve been playing and listening to for quite some time now, Im always on the look-out for quality DnB in all forms and styles. Personally I’ve found alot of current DnB has been sounding quite stale, and my current intake has dwindled somewhat. I suppose one might say im not looking hard enough, which is probably true… but honestly it really hasn’t pricked my ears. A lot of stuff being released on Beatport and other digital retailers has started to sound really washed out and begun to follow a tried and tested structure. So needless to say I was quite surprised to find a 46 track compilation full of quality DnB (and some dubstep) available for free download. At first I was quite skeptical, thinking that the production levels would be low and shoddy, but upon my first listen i was instantly set back – this shit is tight!
FutureDnB are responsible for said album – a two disc compilation from a variety of the website’s producers and artists, the album takes in the best they had to offer in 2010 and gives a retrospective of the year that was. Taking in all styles and forms of DnB from the soulful liquid sounds of Dennis Sharps’ – Vanishing Point to the stripped-back percussive stylings of Parsec’s – Panther, it’s a journey through everything this diverse genre has to offer. Totaling in at 46 tracks, the compilation has something for every bass head. All provided as high-quality 320kbps MP3s they’re perfect for DJs looking for some unique fodder for their sets.
What’s best about the compilation is that I’ve been introduced to a large underground list of artists that I’ve personally never heard of. All of which I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out in the future! Next to that, being that all of the tracks are unsigned and by somewhat unknown artists, they are fresh and unique – none of this overplayed stuff that you’re guaranteed to hear on every DnB compilation and Radio1 Set, this is underground music at it’s finest. Iv always found that unsigned artists tend to really push the boundaries with their productions – not concerned with sales and pleasing a label, they do what they want, which is definitely apparent throughout the compilation.
So for those that like their DnB and Dubstep, head on over to FutureDnB and download the shit out of this album! Your ears will thank you 
DOWNLOAD
FURTHER INFO
Filed under: Albums, Downloads, Music | Leave a Comment
Tags: DnB, Download, Dubstep, FutureDnB
Girl Talk – All Day
The infamous mash-up artist Girl Talk has just released his latest album for FREE! Dropped earlier this morning the server in which it was hosted has been inundated with download requests from fans across the globe. The minute I found out it was available I was straight over to the website feverishly refreshing in the hope that I could get the album onto my hard-drive and into my ears. After a few hours of trying I was finally able to secure a download. 4 hours later it was downloaded.
It’s been on repeat since then and I’m extremely pleased with the album as a whole. In usual Girl Talk fashion it’s mash-up style down to the letter. Rock, hip-hop, pop, dance, and every other conceivable acapella and sound meshed into one cohesive journey. From Portishead to Beyonce, Rick Ross to Beck, it’s all there.
The thing that really caught my attention was that not only does GT sample newer music, it’s that he also uses older music to make up his compositions. Everything from the 80s, 90s, 00s and today. In true mash-up style he covers a really broad spectrum of music to craft his own individual sound. Overall it’s a really great party album that’s bound to get people of all ages and backgrounds dancing around.
I’ve uploaded the track-split version of the album to my server for those that are still having issues downloading from his website. If your after the seamless file, you’ll have to wait for a chance to hit the official download page or find another mirror somewhere else on megaupload or something.
DOWNLOAD MIRROR
OFFICIAL DOWNLOAD
Filed under: Albums, Downloads | Leave a Comment
Tags: Girl Talk, Mash
