House Is A Feeling

This is difficult since I haven’t done a chart in so long, so there are so many records to choose from. Still, here goes!  No particular order.

10. Prosumer-Believe (Vocal Mix) (Ostgut-Ton)

I didn’t take to the Prosumer album in a really big way even though he has a few tracks (his collaboration with Sebo K on one of the first few Mobilee releases, his remix of Dash Dude from last year on Morris Audio) which I really love. Basically when Prosumer gets it right, as I’ve said before here, I reckon he writes better songs than pretty much anyone in house or techno. This reworking of “Believe” (I can’t remember hearing the original, my bad) is definitely up there with his best moments, using house music sounds to make lyrics and an untreated vocal actually mean more, and hit you more.

Like a lot of his stuff it’s sort of rough around the edges, it gives it a sort of folky feel almost. When the synths start blossoming at hyperspeed towards the end this works both as a track and a really bare honest song. Definitely one of the things I’ve listened to most over the last month or two.

9. Dilo-The Kittycat Track (Tolga Fidan’s San Pedro Mix) (Einmaleins)

Ok now this is one to stop what you’re doing for. There’s been plenty of chat about Vakant with the release of Onur Ozer’s Watergate mix, a CD that sees them admirably not bothering to stop making “minimal”. You can’t really win I guess, artists and labels are fickle or “jumping on the bandwagon” (phrase lost all meaning) if they change their styles and if they stay the same people berate them for being unfashionable. But the truth is there’s no point staying the same unless you’re still doing something interesting.

The reason Vakant can keep doing what they’re doing and still sell records is simple: it’s because they have at least two of the most original and talented producers in the entire scene they’re in, Tolga Fidan and Onur Ozer. That doesn’t mean I play or buy every single Vakant record, or everything these guys do, but you only need to listen to one of these guys tunes to know how ultra complex their work is. Again, that doesn’t mean you have to like it, it doesn’t make it definitively good, but it does explain why these guys are still making minimal, cos they always did it better than most others anyway.

Now if you still don’t believe all that, sit back in a comfortable chair and play this, Tolga Fidan’s 15 minute remix of Dilo, through the loudest speakers you have. For me this is at Villalobos level of detail, a maze of different parts and sounds, a track with no straight lines and plenty of blind alleys. This is the outer realm of dance music promised by the best minimal house of the last few years. It would be sad if in the rush to disown minimal people can’t keep making music like this. Which yes yes obviously isn’t “minimal” anyway etc etc etc slit wrists….

8. Dewalta-Farina (Vakant)

So after my pro Vakant rant above it turns out I actually like this record a lot too. I bought a Dewalta record on Meander Music, maybe one of his first releases, about 2 or 3 years ago, and never heard of him again until now. Listening to new purchases on an Ipod shuffle is strange in that occasionally you hear something great and can’t remember which track it is. With this I just couldn’t place who or what it would be, as that desolate minimal beginning fades into a warm house glow. This is what music should be at 8am, preferably on a beach somewhere. It’s got enough space in it to be miserable and euphoric at the same time.

7. Yann Solo-Borderline (Extended Club Mix) (Arearemote)

This one seems to be a re-release for the Dutch label Arearemote, as it’s on Beatport on New Era Digital. What a brilliant record it is though, sounding really sweaty and like some lost mid 90s cut. This is such a DJ friendly record, just one of those ultra-physical tracks that you play for months and months because it makes people become elastic. Gotta love the time of night these tracks are deployed too, just as things are about to really happen. (Well, that’s when I’d play it)

6. Aaron Carl-Simply (Wallshaker Music)

Is it dumb and uncritical to begin my thoughts on this by saying I fucking love this record? If so, then call me dumb and uncritical (I’ve purposely given you a clunky insult.) I think I listened to this about 300 times in the first week after I bought it. I’m not sure what it is, just seems like it should be played as people raise their glasses after somebody’s blown up a club with a 6 or 7 hour set. One of those records to be played while the DJs high five each other. Also you know, it’s got singing in it, real no kidding singing! I don’t know if this record is purist or completely naff, I don’t care! Interested to hear what others think.

5. Franklin De Costa-Corny (Leena)

This is a bit like a slightly more lurid version of something Break SL or a producer like that would do, that same syrupy late night house feel. I don’t know what else to say about this so let’s digress.

In pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland in the 80s and early 90s there was a soap opera years ago called Glenroe, with a very virile character in it called Dick Moran. It was a sort of battleground for big social issues like every TV programme could become when many people only had two channels. Divorce, abortion, whether it’s okay to “lose the run of yourself” or “have fancy ideas”, these was the sort of shit that went down week week out as the sheep looked on.

Anyway I’m not sure Dick Moran would have enjoyed this record, but that clip is the only document of this 80s Irish cultural milestone. Interesting storyline: Dick had an affair for much of the late 80s, but no Irish woman would ever sleep with a married man, obviously, so they wrote in an English woman to do the job. Now where was I???

 4. Anthony Collins-Rabouine House (Seuil Afrikadeep Mix) (Freak N Chic)

God I feel better after letting that Glenroe stuff out of my brain. It really cleared a mental block! I’ve always liked Seuil’s productions, though it’s been a while since I’ve bought one. He has a razor sharp groove though sometimes it gets a bit dry for me. It’s convenient then that he’s got some squelchy melody to play with from fellow Parisian Anthony Collins’ original here. This is so psychedelic and trippy that it makes my normal Saturday afternoon seem like my normal Sunday afternoon! Perfect rhythms too, so slinky that they really burrow into the brain. And then there’s the siren washes. Is there anything better than woozy pissed up afterhours music? No is the answer! French dance music isn’t in bad shape, is it?

3. Benjamin Brunn-Untitled A1 (Workshop)

Without praising somebody whose payroll I’m on too much, it’s good that What People Play gets labels like Workshop on board, as the more people that hear stuff like this the better. I still haven’t really gotten into the Move D and Benjamin Brunn album, as I may have said somewhere else (at my age I forget where I’ve written what, I remember how out of control the youths are though, them and their knives.) For me the album had some of the sides of Move D I don’t really like, sporadic disco licks mixed with dub-techno sort of bothers me.

This I do like though, it doesn’t get much warmer than the imaginatively named “UNTITLED” (probably marginally beats tracks called things like “Beat1″ or other things that sound like filenames) with it’s droning synths and soft bass. It must be interesting to hear this out, somewhere grey and half empty (not Glenroe) at some utterly wrong time of day or night, and pick yourself up a little bit.

2. Baaz-Clouds 2 (Sthlmaudio)

I’ve been waiting for this to come out digitally for about 2 or 3 months. Literally sitting by a computer refreshing Beatport over and over and over again. Finally it has come out and I can leave to eat something, and cut my finger and toenails. Erm…that aside this yet another cool 12 from Baaz, nothing utterly mindblowing but a nice warm house EP again. “Clouds 2″ is definitely my favourite here, I’ve been listening to this after coming in from work quite a lot, music like this should be as mandatory as a shower after a day hewing rocks at the coalface.

1. Transform-Transformation (Tobi Neumann and Matthew Styles Analog Memory Mix) (It.Worx)

More minimal here I guess! Tobi Neumann is a damn reliable producer and this is no exception, a slightly Oslo-esque track with trance leanings that is apparently a remix of a huge hit from 1992, a time when Glenroe was really enjoying huge ratings (sorry.) Matthew Styles, a man who seems to be around a lot without ever being in the forefront, is also involved here. One question though, hasn’t somebody called a mix “Analog Memory Mix” before? My digital memory says yes but I can’t think who it was. Anyone have any ideas?