Best of the Week: 28/04/2010

The likelihood of you enjoying your current employment is highly improbable, or is that you just don’t get paid enough for the job you do? Generally working sucks, at least when compared to clubbing, DJ’ing and listening to music, which of course is paid for by money made from working? Um, catch-22! So this week the selection is dedicated to all the people who have held down shit jobs to pay for their weekend’s entertainment.

If haunted house music is your thing then it doesn’t come any better than Actress, whose own label Werk Discs, has released a steady flow of adventurous singles that mutate dance into an altogether different beast. This is taken from the upcoming LP ‘Splazsh’, released by Honest Jon’s/Download: Actress-Always Human

South Londoner Boy 8-Bit has that ability to fuse banging dance floor beats with melancholy harmonies, and in the process is creating some of the more interesting electro going around. Released on This Is Music, this acid fueled roller is absolutely essential/Download: Boy 8-Bit-The Keep

The discordant beauty of Pantha Du Prince’s minimal techno is almost staggering, building sculptures out of loops and reverb. This remix of indie band Cold Cave draws you into its dark heart with glistening shapes and hollow pipes/Download: Cold Cave-Life Magazine (Pantha Du Prince First Flash remix)

Half of the brilliant Runaway, New Yorker Jacques Renault also puts out some stunning production and edits under his own name. This cut is from a new EP for the mysterious On The Prowl label, and manages to take in new disco, old school techno stabs, and warehouse bass/Download: Jacques Renault-Miranda

In a similar same vein as Joy Orbison or Scuba, London’s Deadboy is making future garage that bends the clichés, and matches funky rhythms with the rich atmospherics of Detroit techno. Available now on Numbers/Download: Deadboy-If U Want Me

Taken from a collection of reworks by Italian producer Bottin released by Nang Records, this remix of cosmic disco don Lindstrom has a trademark bass riff to die for, and a lush swagger of synth washes/Download: Lindstrom-Passkelyd (Bottin remix)

Perhaps the most innovative figure in funky, Roska is a forward-thinking producer whose tracks have the playful jack of early Chicago house, and staggered rhythms of the broken beat scene. This is taken from his new LP out on Rinse Recordings/Download: Roska-Squark

The latest DJ/producer to provide a mix for the DJ Kicks banner, The Juan MacLean continue their stellar run over the last year, following on from the brilliant ‘The Future Will Come’ LP with this killer indie disco tune, available as a limited release alongside the album version(s)/Download: The Juan MacLean-Feel So Good

Another excellent rework from the ever improving Texan Dubbel Dutch, taking dubstep star Silkie’s already inspiring post-jungle vision further towards the dance floor/Download: Silkie-Quasar (Dubbel Dutch edit)

With his distinctive voice and conscious lyrics, Ty has delivered a body of work that is both accessible and completely single-minded. This track is the title cut from his new LP, which takes in hip-hop, soul and r&b, and is out now on BBE/Download: Ty-Special Kind of Fool feat. Erik Rico


Get these releases here: Picadilly, Bleep, Rush Hour, Conch, and Samurai.

Best of the Week: 10/03/2010

This week we are blessed with some true disco throwback goodness, with a singer famed for her mid-nineties sounding the business on top of a killer rhythm, a new Australian outfit given the treatment from a producer moving into the big league, then into a an edit that is crafted to perfection over slow and low funk, before we finish with some futuristic electronica some Philly’s grime king in a more reflective mode, and another eccentric individual from the north of England.

Great track out on DFA here from Ray Mang, this tune updates a George Clinton funk jam into a new disco anthem featuring a great vocal from Lady Miss Kier/Ray Mang-Bulletproof (feat. Lady Miss Kier)

New Modular signings The Swiss feature the talented Sidwho? This remix from Hamburg’s Tensnake will appeal to fans of Permanent Vacation’s recent output, mixing German engineering with cosmic disco overtones, and the results are very cool/The Swiss-Manthem (Tensnake remix)

This brilliant edit by Canadian Eddie C sits somewhere between disco, early rap, and 80’s boogie, and is crafted so lovingly that it is absolutely dripping in soulful goodness/Eddie C-Hold On

Philadelphia based grime producer Starkey continues to astound with his broad body of work. Whether it be his darker side, or like this cut, his more reflective. This is a producer demanding your attention right now/Starkey-Stars (feat. Anneka)

Another producer making exciting electronica right now is Werk Discs main man Actress, who has quietly been creating some noise since 2004, yet this remix of Girl Trouble favourite Joy Orbison plus some co-productions with Zomby seem to finally be getting this artist the attention he deserves/Joy Orbison-The Shrew Would Have Cushioned the Blow (Actress’ Neu Haus So-Glo Mix)


Support these producers; get their music here-Picadilly, Bleep, Rush Hour, Conch, Samurai