@ Metronomy

Playing Favourites: Till von Sein

> Backroom Productions – Definition Of A Track ( New York Underground Records) 1988

A rare tune from 1987. Indeed nothing but a track.

I knew this from the vinyl edition of the DJ-Kicks by Terranova. At that time it fit right in with what they were trying to represent with that compilation. I used to play this track regularly back then, it was very good for warming up.

So you actually know this for quite some time then.

Yeah, of course! I was not into Terranova that much, but the compilation had some brilliant tracks on it. East Flatbush Project and such.

This has some kind of Hip Hop vibe to it, too. But it does not exactly sound like 1988.

No, and I didn’t know that (laughs).

Would you still play it?

Definitely. I don’t know when and for what occasion but it is a class track.

It somehow reminds me of the bonus beats they used to have on the flipside of old House records.

Yeah, but bonus beats have gone out of fashion a bit, apart from Hip Hop. Argy had some for that Sydenham track “Ebian” on Ibadan last year. But I think it is not really relevant anymore for the current generation of House producers.

The percussive elements really distinguish the sound of that era from today’s productions. Lots of handclaps, or here it’s rimshots.

My problem is that I don’t really like all these percussion sounds from drum machines. I prefer sampled real instruments. This is probably some classic Roland drum machine, like a 606. I would take the bassdrum and hi-hats from somewhere else. The toms of these old machines are always cool, but the bongo sounds for example are not for me. I wouldn’t use that for my productions. I couldn’t do these 100 % authentic references. I think it’s supercool to listen to in a Prosumer record for example, but I couldn’t do that.

You got qualms about doing something like that?

No (laughs)! I’m just working on a new track for which I sampled an old Amen-break. I don’t care, if I like it I use it. This kind of break is in 90 % of all Drum and Bass tracks and nobody cares, so I don’t care either.

> Phortune – Unity (Jack Trax) 1988

This is an old track by DJ Pierre, from his Acid House days. But it is different to most tracks he produced back then. It is pretty deep.

It’s great. Awesome vibe for 1988, I could listen to this all day. It doesn’t tranquilize my feet, it’s not boring, it’s perfectly right. And I would grin from ear to ear if I would hear this in a club.

Some of its sounds have aged really well.

I really like this. I think it’s a pity that there are not so many tracks with great basslines at the moment. There are a lot of simple, functional basslines without much of a melody. Of course it’s effective and some current tracks need some of these dominating, functional elements, but a track like this for example needs a bit more, and I miss that. It’s also simple, but it has more and different harmonies. I like that, it gets me hooked. I would love to buy this on Beatport (laughs)!

Yes, that could be difficult. Read the rest of this entry »

Druffmix 29 – Alles Für Die Cuts Pt. 2

Welcome to another Druffmix edition. The Druffalo Hit Squad is dedicating this one to the old school chapter of the International Disco Flamboyance Preservation Society. Never Surrender!

Charly Brown – The Twilight Zone
DJ Spinna – Ladbroke Groove
Deep Sensation – Can’t Give You Up
Stan Francisco – Lover 2 Lover
Les Claudettes – Alexandrie Alexandra
Joey Negro – Universe Of Love
Disco Elements – Muzik Takes Me Higher
Solar House – Peace Of Mind
Ratcliffe – Grape Soda
Jasper Street Company – Music
Rhythm Section Feat. Donald O – Do You Know
Victor Simonelli Presents 21st Century Rockers – Ease Into The Dance
Stevie Wonder – All I Do (Remix)
Chubby Chunks – Testament One
Terrence Parker – The More I Want
Stacy Kidd – Lost Angels
The Meat Men- All Locked Up
Dino + Terry – Moon Dub
Armand Van Helden Feat. Duane Harden – You Don’t Know Me
Deep Sensation – Togetherness
Deep Sensation – Soul Heaven
Dazzle – You Dazzle Me (Kenny Dope Edit)
Black Science Orchestra – Where Were You
Kerri Chandler – Dizko Satisfaction
Romanthony – In The Mix
Brothers Of Soul – Disco Era

Druffmix 28 – Alles Für Die Cuts Pt. 1

Welcome to another Druffmix edition. The Druffalo Hit Squad is dedicating this one to the old school chapter of the International Disco Deconstructivist Conspiracy. Venceremos!

Johnny D & Nicky P – Like Morning
Agent X – In The Morning
Sensory Productions- Houseluck
House 101 – I Got The Music
Glenn Underground – I Need GU
Jellybean – Twilight Dome Pt. 2
Freestyle Orchestra – Twi-Lite
Glenn Underground – Functions
Mada – Good Stuff
Raw Grooves – Three
Markus Nikolai – Rood
Audiomatrix – Miss You
Level One – Give It Up
Nature Boy – Tobago
Travis Nelson – Breakin’ Rocks
Mike Dixon – Love Is…
Nail – Dancin’
Netto – Kula
DJ Spen – Tedd’s Beat Goes On
Johnny Dangerous – Kill For A Day
Daniel Wang – Not Feeling It
Whirlpool Productions – It Happened Last Night
Sound Stream – Motion
Stacy Kidd – Take It Easy
Paul Johnson – Hear The Music
Ghetto Godfathers – Love Junkie
Brother Of Soul – Eyes Of Love
Bim Marx – Stronger
Eddie Kendricks – Thank You For The Memories (Dam Edit)

Finn Johannsen – Nippon Mobile Music Part 3

Mixes recorded for RBMA

Part 3

Haruomi Hosono – 3.6.9 (Monad)
Ryuichi Sakamoto – The End Of Europe (Ariola)
Yellow Magic Orchestra – Neue Tanz (Alfa)
Masami Tsuchiya – Kafka (Epic)
Hajime Tachibana – Theme From Nihon No Sugao (Ralph)
Virginia Astley – Some Small Hope (WEA)
The Beatniks – Le Sang Du Poète (Plexus)
Logic System – Convulsion Of Nature (EMI)
Ryuichi Sakamoto – The Garden Of Poppies (Plexus)
Lizard – Sa Ka Na (Phonogram)
Haruomi Hosono – Alternative 3 (Another Record Company)
Yellow Magic Orchestra – Snakeman Show (A&M)
Miharu Koshi – Petit Paradis (Alfa)
Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Private Music)
Name – Do We All Need Love (Soft)
The Bach Revolution – Narega Tama, Akumuyori Mezameyo (Excerpt) (RCA)

Finn Johannsen – Nippon Mobile Music Part 2

Mixes recorded for RBMA

Part 2

Ryuichi Sakamoto – Before Long (CBS)
Hajime Tachibana – Arrangement (Ralph)
Masami Tsuchiya – Secret Party (Epic)
The Beatniks – No Way Out (Statik)
Ryuichi Sakamoto & Robin Scott – Just About Enough (Plexus)
Susan – Ah! Soka (Epic)
La Sellrose Can Can – Happy Morning (Soft)
Logic System – Clash (EMI)
Ryuichi Sakamoto feat. Thomas Dolby – Field Work (Ten)
Haruomi Hosono – Body Snatchers (Another Record Company)
Yellow Magic Orchestra – Taiso (Alfa)
Ryuichi Sakamoto – Rain (I Want A Divorce) (Virgin)
Yellow Magic Orchestra – Shadows On The Ground (Alfa)
Miharu Koshi – Parallelisme (Alfa)
Ippu-Do – Magic Vox (Epic)

Finn Johannsen – Nippon Mobile Music Part 1

The first in a series of mixes with some of my favourite Japanese Synthpop from the 70s/80s for RBMA.

Mixes recorded for RBMA

Part 1

Ippu-Do – German Road (Epic)
Salon Music – Hunting On Paris (Phonogram)
Yellow Magic Orchestra – Key (Alfa)
Miharu Koshi – Ryugujo No Koibito (Alfa)
Earthling – You Go On Natural (Phonogram)
Hajime Tachibana – Liquid (Ralph)
Sandii & The Sunsetz – Sticky Music (Alfa)
The Eastern Gang – Charlotte (Miracle)
Minako – Town (Alfa)
Yukihiro Takahashi – Drip Dry Eyes (Alfa)
Miharu Koshi – L’Amours Toujours (Alfa)
Testpattern – Modern Living (Alfa)
Yukihiro Takahashi – Walking To The Beat (Alfa)
Ryuichi Sakamoto & David Sylvian – Bamboo Houses (Virgin)
Ippu-Do – Morning Menu (Epic)
Ryuichi Sakamoto – Kimi Ni Tsuite (Nippon Life Insurance Co.)

Playing Favourites: Quarion

> Sound Dimension – Granny Scratch Scratch (Soul Jazz)

This is a 70’s reggae track by Jackie Mittoo. It’s almost Minimal, very basic.

True. It’s got some Techno appeal, it’s just rhythm. That’s what I like about this Dub stuff, there are so many things you can recognize that were used later on in electronic music like House and Techno. Dub was so important for that.

So these ancient production techniques are still valid? There seems to be a direct line from Jamaica to today’s productions.

Yeah, I listen to Dub. I don’t listen to a lot, but I like some of it. But I like to use the state of mind of Dub in my music. It’s more a musician thing. I like to use the techniques of it. I’m getting more into the music, too. It’s amazing, the way they were mixing the bass and the drums in the 70’s. Really crazy.

They also put some emphasis on just doing tracks, not songs.

It really is the basis of what came afterwards, from Hip Hop to House to Techno. Drum and Bass also, of course. They all took elements from Dub, that’s really interesting.

> Yukihiro Takahashi – Walking To The Beat (Pick Up Records)

The next one is by Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Yukihiro Takahashi. A Synthpop track.

It is interesting. It has this kind of proto-House feeling. What I really liked was this crazy soprano sax solo at the end. It is almost like Free Jazz, for 30 or 40 seconds, and then it stops. That was quite bold.

I think he actually wanted to do some kind of pop hit though. The singer on this record is the one from the 80’s pop group Icehouse for example. But for a pop hit it is probably too weird.

I think the harmonies are built up quite traditionally, but this solo part really surprised me. It is almost like New York ‘s Post Punk era. Trying some new crazy stuff.

Maybe you should use some sax solo in a House track.

Well, I used to play sax in the past.

Really?

Yeah, for a long time. But I kind of really got tired of the sound and I don’t think I’m going to use it. But you never know. I started playing Alto Saxophone when I was 13 years old. I had tried piano a few years ago, but I wasn’t so much into it. I don’t remember why I chose saxophone, but I remember I wanted to do a wind instrument. With the saxophone, I learned to play jazz and I absolutely loved it! I began rehearsing with a few bands, mostly Jazz or Funk groups. When I discovered DJing, I was instantly hooked and I started playing less and less saxophone, until I quit around 2001. DJing, collecting and discovering music became more important for me. I dabbled into production around 1996, but got a home studio setup two years later. I remember that my main reason for producing was that I found that certain records were lacking something or were arranged in a way that I thought was not so effective. I was thinking “Hmm, the producer should have put this part first” or “the chord there doesn’t sound nice although the beat is dope”. After a while I just thought I should make my own tracks.

I remember that a lot of the early Deep House tracks used the same sax sound. Really flat and synthetic. They seldom used a real saxophone, always this cheap sound effect.

Yeah, terrible. Read the rest of this entry »

Druffmix 27 – The D.H.S. Rave Chronicles New York

The Druffalo rave saga continues. This time round the Druffalo Hit Squad travels back to the New York City of the early 90′s, when labels like Nu Groove, Strictly Rhythm and many more dropped several bombs each week on the city’s manic floors, and the according sound was a sample-heavy and stylistically irresponsible mixture of roots in Disco, Hip Hop, Freestyle and clues from worldwide House and Techno proceedings. An overdose of signals both deep and kicking, and a decidedly street approach to structure the madness.

At that time you could even dance to that, whenever and wherever you wanted to.

We sure did, and still do.

How about you?

The Sound Vandals – Extasy (Nu Groove)
Full Moon – Allelujh (Dope Slap)
Jam To It Again – Aquarius (City Limits)
Brooklyn Funk Essentials – Change The Track (Minimal)
Bobby Konders – Let There Be House (Nu Groove)
Intellectual Harmonious Sanction – Save The Whales (R&S)
Mental Mayhem – Joey’s Riot (Atmosphere)
The Untouchables – Trippin’ (Strictly Rhythm)
Direct – Techno Gone Mad (R&S)
Project 86 – Industrial Bass (Nu Groove)
Sound Factory – Cuban Gigolo (Capitol)
Jovonn – Back To House (Goldtone)
Static – The Native Track (Strictly Rhythm)
House Syndicate – Jam The Mace (Dopewax)
The Dope Wax Allstars – Angelo’s Groove (Dopewax)
33 1/3 Queen – Searchin’ (Nu Groove)
Gypsymen – Bounce (E Legal)
Foremost Poets – Reasons To Be Dismal (Nu Groove)
Metro – Straphanger (Nu Groove)
Open House Feat. Pace – Seven Day Weekend (Nu Groove)
Arthur Baker And The Backbeat Disciples – Silly Games (A&M)
KC Flightt – Planet E (RCA)
Earth People – Reach Up To Mars (Underworld)
J. Of Barcelona – Red Light District (Rey-D)
Landlord – I Like It (Bigshot)
A Bitch Called Johanna – I’m A Bitch (Project X)
Ooscha – Ich Will Dich (Quark)

Interview: Motor City Drum Ensemble

Die Divenschnipsel und die wohligen Flächen können bei vielen Trittbrettfahrern der House-Wiederkehr nicht darüber hinwegtäuschen, dass sich der aseptische Grundklang nur schwerlich mit den tradierten Grundfesten des Sounds vereinbaren lässt, und sich entsprechend auch nur rudimentär von der Preset-Beliebigkeit der TechHouse-Schwemme der letzten Jahre unterscheidet. In der Flut solcher Missverständnisse ragen schon seit geraumer die Produktionen vom Stuttgarter Boy Wonder Danilo Plessow heraus, der eben genau jene notwendige Emotionalität und Dreck in seine Tracks impft. Die Geschichte mit House und dem Feeling halt.

Wobei es eigentlich seit der Teenie-Genese von etwa Ron Trents Frühwerk nicht weiter verwundern sollte, dass jemand in jungen Jahren schon dieses Feeling aufweist. “Das Thema mit dem Alter ist zwar schon in Inverse Cinematics-Zeiten überstrapaziert worden, aber trotzdem: ich habe schon sehr früh angefangen, Musik zu machen. Erst am Schlagzeug, dann mit billigen Software-Sequencern. So sind die ersten Releases auf Pulver entstanden. Durch Jazzschlagzeug und die Liebe zu Hip Hop und das Finden von Samples begann die Suche nach Jazzplatten. Ich bin in einer Kleinstadt mit nur einem Plattenladen aufgewachsen, aber da der Typ auf Death Metal spezialisiert war, konnte ich mit Schülergeld an einige Schätze kommen. Unter meinen ersten fünf LPs waren John Coltranes “Love Supreme”, The Awakening auf Black Jazz Records und auch Moodymanns “Silent Introduction”, wobei mir letztere erst mit 15, 16 Jahren, nach dem ersten Clubbesuch, so richtig als Meisterwerk bewusst wurde. Das war noch in den Anfangszeiten des Internets, d. h. man hatte noch nicht die Möglichkeiten in Sekunden an jedes Release zu kommen, war auch gut so. Ich hatte also nur meinen kleinen Mikrokosmos aus wenigen Platten, die ich immer wieder hörte, und ich hatte Glück, die richtigen für mich zu erwischen.“ Read the rest of this entry »