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: 24/02/2010

Everything is relative when it comes to music, whether it be slinky dubbed out garage from the UK, or a mix of minimal techno and deep electro pop, even the squelch and beat trickery of another new beat phenomenon, and let us not forget the return of an old master and storyteller returning to the top of his game.

If you haven’t been seduced by the innovative funky, meets dubstep music of Ramadanman yet, then this fine rework is a great place to start. Tribal without the bad samples, this is perfect for the creative DJ/James Fox-Put it Back (Ramadanman refix)

Great remix of this track which came out on Mad Decent last year. This is rave music with better production than in the heyday, and on a big sound system anything by L-VIS 1990 generally does the business/L-VIS 1990-United Groove (Kingdom remix)

Another outstanding release from the ever consistent Planet Mu, this cut is available on the Ultra Heat Treated EP, far better than any of Slugabed’s bootleg remixes; this is the sort of quality you’d expect from Joker or Rustie/Slugabed-Titans

Taken from the stunning Black Noise LP, this is minimal techno that transcends that genre much like Matthew Dear, and becomes the most glorious blend of haunting textures, sculpted beats, and indie rhythms/Pantha du Prince-Stick to My Side

You should all have I’m New Here, Gil Scott-Heron’s brilliant comeback album, by now. If not here is a dark piece of poetic genius about the virtues of losing sleep/Gil Scott-Heron-Where Did the Night Go

Support these musicians. Buy their music from here: Picadilly, Bleep, Rush Hour, Conch and Samurai.