Def worth a watch on DFA – an iconic label that seems to do things right.

Happy 12 years!

Monday & as the cobwebs begin to leave, the brain starts to return to normal, we found this gem from the brilliant ‘Test Pressing‘ site. If you haven’t been on this site, then put some time aside as its a true gem of a website, packed with a fantastic & articulate guide of dance music history, interviews & mixes.

For the mix today, its a classic slice of Balearic from ’94 & that Ibiza institute, Cafe del Mar. This mix will certainly ease your working day away & with that glint of sun in the sky, things aren’t too bad.

Heads up to Phil Mison for the mix!

http://testpressing.org/2013/04/254-phil-mison/

Danny’s name isn’t a name you hear as much as you once did but I for one feel that it’s a shame because technically he is second to none and his tunes are always make me want to go home and buy some new tunes as mine feel rather inadequate in comparison (before you say they are, I know!). Below is a selection of mixes that demonstrate Danny’s capabilities including a rather good dnb mix. Enjoy.

This one is from 1995 and I love the write up that he included on his Soundcloud account:

“Got a cool old Sony Walkman from ebay so decided to make a start at slowly archiving my old collection of mixtapes from the 1990s – from 1991 to about 97/8 I used to do about one a month and send them everywhere in a desperate attempt to get gigs. This one’s from 1995 – two belt drive decks, a two-channel mixer and a tape recorder and most probably a four-pack of beer. For the diehards only – sound quality is pretty bad and you might find the musical content questionable too (No EQ – recorded straight from the Walkman.)”

Tom and Ad have kindly took some time out of their busy diaries to answer a few questions, a kind of getting to know you session but don’t worry even if you think they are boring sods their music will rock!
1. Tell us how the Tiger Collective came into being and what is your opinion on the plight of the tiger?
Tom: The Tiger Collective came from a series of photographs, back to back DJ set’s in the Bull’s Head and having tiger beer advertised above our heads. Ad is a fan of tigers, I prefer Lions. He won.

The inspiration, the Tiger sign not the kissing couple!

2. We may have a spring this year and if we are very lucky we could end this 18 month winter with a summer. What are you looking forward to? Other than Habit on 18th May of course!
Ad: I am looking forward to actually taking a holiday somewhere to celebrate my 30th later in the year. I also want to check out some festivals with the Hop Farm and Mostly Jazz Festivals on my to-do list this year!
3. What 3 records never leave your bag (or cd wallet/external hard drive)? You get the picture!
Tom: I decided to just go with the past ten years, to many records and to many to think about – I’d rather have a bag of 100 rather than three.

Kathy Diamond – All Woman, this is a Maurice Fulton production with Kathy singing over the top in her lovely way. It’s a song based arrangement but has this killer snappy electro bass towards the end which is just really cool. It’s my own get out of jail card; everyone loves it when played out.

Theo Parrish – Falling Up (Carl Craig Mix), the spirit of Theo and the connoisseur remixing of Carl Craig. I love the beautiful keys; it’s very weird and a bit noodly. A 10” record that was a bit of a marmite track for some but for me it was a gift from the Detroit gods.

LCD Sound System – Losing My Edge, this record rarely gets an airing but it’s a security blanket of sorts. I always pack LCD Sound System records, there are many to choose from. DFA for that matter when I think about it is such a consistent label and it will be a label remembered for years to come. Releases ahead of their time but still sounding current whilst churning out acid house stompers’ right through to krauty psych ballads. But LCD are the band for this decade, I’d have James Murphy’s babies.

4. What can people expect to be dancing to when you are behind the decks?
Ad: Tom and I playing together is very much a new project, our record collections seem to complement each other, on the 18th we are looking forward to playing a set that fits in with the Habit sound whilst making sure we put our own interpretation of what we feel is good house music!

5. What producers and labels are you digging right now?
Tom: My favourite label to turn to has been Claremont 56 , a label that’s been excellent over the past 12 months, almost perfect. The Torn Sail and Paqua releases were beautiful, I love the folksy electronic end of Balearic music and Claremont 56 have captured that sound in such a way that their music sounds just as good next to a disco track or a techno record.

6. If you could warm up for any DJ who would it be?
Ad: Naming one DJ is impossible! I would have to say warming up for Loco Dice at Circo Loco DC10 around 2003 kind of time would have been pretty amazing although I don’t think Loco would have been enthused by me warming up for him back then!

7. What do you think of the scene currently? Is Duke Dumont’s Number 1 single a good thing?
Tom: Don’t pay much attention, music comes in waves n all that. There were some great house records which were being sung by people on the way home from work on Friday night’s. Just the way it is.
8.  We’ll be a bit controversial now, who is the most overrated DJ?
Ad: Ha! I am not sure I could name an actual DJ, but any DJ who is there just for the pay cheque and not because they have a love of music is over rated. (Editor’s note; we are disgusted by Ad’s politician-like answer. We may have to kick him off the decks if his music is as manilla as his answer!)
9. You have the midnight set on NYE, what track and who decides Tiger-man Tom or Tiger-man Ad?
Tom: I’d win this time. Rick Astley anyone?

10. What’s your current Top 5?
Ad: I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag with the records that we will be playing at habit but my 5 top records at the moment are:
1. Flori – Dusty shocks
2. Machinesleet – Flavour Replacement
3. Nina Simone – Here comes the sun (Francois K remix)
4. Herbert – Got to be moving

5. Motor City Drum Ensemble – Got it

Thanks for your time gents, see you on the 18th May.

SATURDAY 18TH MAY @ THE BULL’S HEAD MOSELEY.
UPSTAIRS – HOUSE
PJR PROJECT
JIM RYAN
TIGER COLLECTIVE
TOM HANSON

DOWNSTAIRS – DISCO / SOUL/ HIP-HOP/ FUNK
PROCESS
STEVE THORNTON & BUCKLEY
JAMIE RYAN-AINSLIE

8PM – 2AM. FREE ALL NIGHT.
HABITCLUB.CO.UK

The longest winter EVER is nearly (hopefully) over and we intend to usher in the summer in style on 18th May at our spiritual home, The Bull’s Head. So join us as we welcome three new DJ’s to the Habit decks, Tom Hanson, Buckley and Jamie Ryan-Ainslie. We’re also really excited that Tom Belte & Ad Jones are playing upstairs for the first time but soon you will know them as Tiger Collective, their new alias.

Expect to hear the best in up-front house upstairs and a little bit of everything downstairs.

Oh and did we mention that it’s free? All night?

See you on the floor.

Habit
xxx

Today’s post will be short and sweet as most of us (me included) are planning on getting drunk when we clock off for the weekend in a few short hours.

Toby Tobias @ HNY, San Francisco

Toby is a critically acclaimed DJ/Producer/Label Owner based in London who is best known for a string of excellent releases on Rekids. I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing him DJ live but after listening to this mix I certainly will be making the effort to go and see him when he is next in town.

I love this set because…  of how Toby seamlessly fuses trippy disco with classic house vibes. Plus, it’s got records by some of my favourite ever artists and producers; Adeva, Alan Braxe & Fred Falke and Lovebirds. How could this mix be bad?

In this new series I will be posting links to some of the music that I’m loving at this moment in time, some of it you may like and some of it I will probably ask why  I wrote about this pile of rubbish that every Tom, Dick and Harry is playing at <insert generic club night name>.

Louche Podcast 097 – San Soda

I’ll start with the mix that I’m loving right now and first up we have San Soda, the Belgian producer who along with Red D is building a rather good rep as FCL. The man behind San Soda is Nicolas Geysens and he’s a former Red Bull Music Academy graduate who has releases on We Play House so he knows his sheiiiiiit. That will be the first of many references from the best tv show ever, The Wire.

I love this mix because… house doesn’t get any better than this. There are some amazing  tracks by Ron Trent, Chez Damier and Azymuth that feature in this 90 minute mix. On a side note the Louche Podcast series should be one that everyone subscribes to as they are constantly releasing great podcasts.

Bobby Womack – Please Forgive My Heart

I’m a massive fan of soul and one of my favourite artists is Bobby Womack so I was obviously intrigued when I saw that he had a new album out, on XL Recordings and Damon Albarn and Richard Russel had produced it. There is one track that I simply love and it’s this:

I love this song/album because… Bobby Womack did not need to make this album, he could have made another traditional soul album that would have been more of the same (good) soul, however, he’s taken a risk and created something that is far removed from anything he has done before so I tip my metaphorical hat to him.

Today we’re getting on a disco tip and supplying a 4hr set are HMD’s very own Jim Stanton & James Hillard.

Horse Meat Disco is dedicated to the industry of human happiness and it pumps it out every Sunday at THE EAGLE LONDON (formerly South Central).

This is taken from the Date in 2012 & enjoy the 4 hour disco ride.

Full article here:

http://www.buzzinfly.com/index.html

Ableton have announced details of Live 9, the latest version of their popular music production and performance software, as well as an all new hardware controller, Push.

Not coming as much of a surprise – Ableton accidentally uploaded a video of Live 9 to their YouTube account which was promptly copied and leaked – the news nevertheless ends years of speculation as to what Live 9 would feature and when it might arrive (Live 8 was released back in April 2009). Gaining criticism for their incremental updates in previous years, Ableton look to have addressed those concerns with what looks to be the most significant set of changes to the software for some time.

Top of the list is automation recording in the session view, allowing improvised ideas to be captured more easily on the fly (curved automation has also been added), while a new browser allows a more user-friendly way or organising and finding instruments and samples. Live’s studio effects – Compressor, Gate and EQ Eight – have also had a redesign, with clearer displays; they are joined by an all new analogue modelled compressor called Glue. Incredibly, the new Live also has a tool allowing audio to be converted to MIDI – meaning that in theory a drum loop could be converted to MIDI and reused with your own drum samples. Finally, Max For Live – the powerful tool allowing you to create your own instruments and effects for Live – is now included in the Live suite; it was previously a costly extra. An overview of the new features can be seen in the video below.

As well as Live 9, Ableton have unveiled an all new controller for the software – Push. Developed with Akai, and looking like a cross between Native Instruments’ Maschine and Novation’s Launchpad, and featuring 64 velocity and pressure sensitive pads, encoders and a touch strip, it functions as a tool for playing beats live, step sequencing, and for adjusting instrument and effect parameters. Undoubtedly one of its most interesting features is the controller’s ability to show only the notes in a given musical scale – something that will be invaluable to the less musically inclined. Those with older versions of Live will be disappointed however – Push will only work with Live 9. The features can be seen in action in the video below.

As yet no release date has been announced beyond the first quarter of 2013 for both the software and Push controller, but the Push controller will retail for €499. Live 9 meanwhile, will be available in Intro, Standard and Suite flavours, costing €79, €349 and €599 respectively – upgrades will depend on your current version of Live.

It’s worth mentioning that those who upgrade to Live 8 now will receive a 25 per cent discount, and will get a free upgrade to Live 9, which may well save money in the long run. Full details are available at the Ableton store, while those wanting a more comprehensive tour of both products should head to Ableton’s homepage.

words taken from http://www.junodownload.com/plus/2012/10/25/ableton-announce-full-details-of-live-9-and-push-controller/