Hidden Cat: The Musical

Hidden Cat is one of the more exciting underground producers that truly has not received that attention that he deserves. Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, he produces great tracks with a very healthy mix of House and Electro. A few months ago, I discovered that this producer that I've been keeping my eye on for over a year happened to share a mutual friend with me by the name of Jared Paul (check our post about him HERE). And that led to this post, so we're proud to present our interview with Hidden Cat:


Apes With Barrels: Isn't it supposed to be Hidden Dragon?

Hidden Cat: I used to design t-shirts in high school. I would press like 15 and sell them for like a twenty dollar profit. I always wanted to make a black shirt with two cat eyes on it. I thought if I started putting out music under the name "Hidden Cat" it would give me an excuse to make the shirt. Some one reminded me later that "Cats" the musical already has that as their logo, but it was too late. It has spawned some good nicknames though.

AwB: Are you Surkin? Because this picture certainly suggests that you are:

HC: I don't know about all that. I'm pretty sure I'm not Surkin, though we have a similar setup. He's got like 4 years on me or something believe it or not. If I could claim Radio Fireworks as my own I would, trust me.

AwB: What got you into Electronic music?

HC: This band from Chicago, TRS-80. I used to be way more into indie rock and crazy time signatures and jazz, then I heard TRS-80 in the 8th grade when they released "Shake Hands With Danger", which is still one of my favorite albums. They do more breaks and dub and experimental stuff, but that eventually led to Four Tet when "Rounds" came out in 2003, which eventually led to Trentemøller when "The Last Resort" came out in 2006, which eventually introduced me to the four-on-the-floor world. I still love all the indie rock and crazy time signatures and stuff too, by the way. I'm definitely part of the most recent generation of electronic music lovers.

AwB: You have got to be the only producer from North Carolina that I've ever heard of. Is there a scene for this sort of stuff there? Any guys from the area that we should be checking out?

HC: There's a GREAT small local label for electronic music, located in Durham. It's called FrequeNC records. They've got some real innovative folks putting out some crazy sounds these days. Especially check out Datahata and EAR PWR. There's also an annual week-long electronic music festival that takes place in Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Durham called Signalfest. It covers a whole lot of genre's and is getting bigger every year. The scene is still pretty small though. Around here, the whole Justice thing has really gotten a lot of people into electronic music who wouldn't normally be interested. That's helping out a fair amount.

AwB: I found out who you were during the Fifth Of Beethoven incident. I noticed how you commented on every blog that posted it, which must have been a huge pain in the ass. Would you care to explain what brought you to try to recreate the remix, and did it help with your exposure?

HC: Yeah that was a mistake I'll never make again. I had heard the Soulwax mix in Justice's set for Fader, and seen a YouTube video of 2manydjs playing it or something. Anyway, I really wanted to play it out and couldn't find it anywhere. I realized everything in the Soulwax mix except the drums was just cut up samples of the Walter Murphy original, so I decided to chop it up myself in the same way. It was a real unpolished mix, I stole drums from a SebastiAn track and everything, and I made up a completely different ending because I couldn't hear the ending of the original Soulwax mix anywhere. Anyway I later saw other people online saying they wanted the Soulwax mix, so I offered them my mix. Somewhere along the way my version got mis-labeled as the real Soulwax mix and uploaded in a torrent of all the Soulwax remixes. Bloggers downloaded that, and that's sort of where the confusion began. As far as exposure, it definitely helped out. Once blogs started correcting the labeling error, my other stuff got started getting passed around a little more.

AwB: What equipment/software do you use to produce/DJ?

HC: For production, I use Cubase and Reason. For DJing I use Traktor and a UC-33e.

AwB: What would be your ideal setup?

HC: I want Cubase 5 with no bugs, I also want really expensive microphones and soundproofing.

AwB: Do you like to prepare sets for your parties, or do you prefer to mix on the spot?

HC: I definitely do all the mixing on the spot. I think reading the crowd is as important of a skill as is technical ability in DJing. I definitely have tunes that I plan to fit into a set going in, and I remember mixes that work especially well, but for the most part its whatever I think the listeners would vibe with the most.

AwB: What's been your favorite gig to date?

HC: I played a wild and crazy house party in Boone, North Carolina early this year. It was small enough that I knew about half the people there, but big enough that we shook the ventilation shaft off the ceiling (falling onto my laptop and spraying it with obscene amounts of dust, I might add).

AwB: What's been your worst?

HC: New Years Eve this year. DJed a party outside. It was so miserably cold I was wearing heavy duty gloves when I didn't have to mix.

AwB: I definitely hear that 'French' sound in your original tracks and remixes, but I'm curious to hear who your biggest production influences are.

HC: I've always been impressed with Joakim's sound. He makes synths sound very natural, like they should be a physical instrument or something. I don't necessarily try to do that with my synths, I doubt he does either, but I like having a sort of natural texture to my tracks, if that makes any sense at all. Modeselektor and Royksopp also fit that sound in my mind, and I respect their production highly as well.

AwB: What are you sampling in your track, The Superfuture? It's been killing me.

HC: Ahhh all those string/brass stab sounds are a few samples with a synth mimicking them. The sample is from an Andy Gibb track from the late 70's.

AwB: You recently landed an official remix for Andy Caldwell. How'd that come about and how did it feel to really receive some recognition.

HC: That was fun to do, because that remix was the first track of mine to get an official release (more on the way!). I got that through KiD COLA's manager after I asked for a remix of The Superfuture. His manager, James Hoste, is with the same group who manages Andy Caldwell.

AwB: What's your opinion on Mashup guys like Girl Talk and Super Mash Bros?

HC: I've got a love/hate relationship with mashups. I think they're really cool when they're done live and sound good, like mixing two tracks in the same key basically. I've never especially liked putting on mashups when I'm at home listening to music. Its always really cool when 2 songs match in tempo and chord progression, but it gets sort of boring for me after about 30 seconds. All of this excludes Super Mash Bros. That project is (going to be?) incredible.

AwB: What are your top 5 tracks and top 5 artists at the moment?

HC: Tracks:
1. Hidden Cat - Get With It
2. Tiga - Beep Beep Beep (Loco Dice Remix)
3. Stickin' - SonicC (BOMB! - EVERYONE GET THIS)
4. Phoenix - Lisztomania (Classixx Version)
5. D.I.M. & TAI - Lyposuct (Noob Remix)
Artists is way too hard. I will say that Dirty Projectors have recently put out an LP that is my favorite album in years.

AwB: Thanks so much for the interview, we're really excited to hear what comes next from you.

HC: No problem!

Ok, so that's it for the interview, time you hook you up with some awesome tracks:

The Superfuture - Hidden Cat
My personal favorite of his, it's incredible. Awesomely chopped up samples with a great Electro bassline.

Funk Nasty (Hidden Cat Remix) - Andy Caldwell
His first official release, should really get him some respect.

The Rip (Hidden Cat Remix) - Portishead
Not really a dance track, much more relaxed. Maybe you could end a set with this one, but its much more a listening track. Regardless, it's top notch.

The Floor is on Fire - Hidden Cat
Great chopped disco samples with an Electro bass. Everyone should be able to name this sample.

Heaven is a Place on Earth (Hidden Cat Remix) - Belinda Carlisle
Oh, so campy. Would probably get everyone in the crowd jumping though, and every DJ wants that.

Hints - Hidden Cat
Just straight up Electro this time, not as mature as his other tracks.

A Fifth of Beethoven (Hidden Cat's "Based on the Soulwax" Edit) - Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band
I loved this shit when it first hit the blogs, even included it in one of my early sets.

BEATHOVEN (Edit) - Soulwax
And the original for all you.

Superfuture (KiD COLA Remix) - Hidden Cat
I'm not a very big fan of this remix. It's got a cool intro, but then just drops into this wobbly bass with resonance up the wazoo. What I AM a fan of, however, is his remix of KiD COLA, which you can check over at his MYSPACE. The release date hasn't been decided yet, but you can be sure it'll be posted here once I get the OK.

Daedelus Live at Low End Theory, Wed 22

Last week, me and M decided to go at the last minute to see Daedelus who was playing at the Low End Theory club here in downtown LA, a great venue held at the airliner club and run by one of our favorite dubstep/psychedelic dj's The Gaslamp Killer. it was a great billing, with resident DJs Daddy Kev, Nobody, and D Styles playing with Free The Robots and Daedelus Headlining, we'd already missed seeing Daedelus play twice this summer so, we thought we better not miss this show. And boy was it well worth going, not only was it one of the dopest venues in LA, it turned out to be one of the best concerts ive been to. We rolled up about an hour in, walked in while D Styles was playing some pretty cool tracks, it was a pretty intimate space, white room above a bar with a balcony/back area where you could chill with some of the artists. it was insanely hot in that club, but it didn't get to you that much, the music was just too awesome, Up until Daedelus an MC (i think MC Nocando) was rapping alongside the DJs and was really great. The venue was definitely made for the fans cause its got great sound, intimate venue at the heart of the scene, LA where you can meet some of the artists too, its very casual and alot of fun. Anyways D Styles played some pretty cool tracks mostly experimental hip-hop, i distinctly remember being surprised by a Mulatu Astatke track, this ethiopian jazz artist who i'd heard of through a Jarmusch soundtrack(sry if it was nobody who played this track). Next came Nobody with some straight up hip-hop, and it was alot of fun too, Daddy Kev though came in and destroyed with some hard hitting dubstep, but everything was still kept at like a chill-out/trippy atmosphere most of the night.

The energy definitely picked up another level once free the robots came on, we'd seen him once before and i was impressed, he's like another flying lotus stylistically, and apparently he had prepared something good that night, he really out did himself, someone to look out for. Then while were waiting for Daedelus to come on, I think he was late, so some of the other DJs were playing while we waited, then suddenly Daedelus cuts between me and M and everyone starts going crazy, i was expecting a pretty relaxed night, but i could not help from dancing most of the time, i'm pretty sure there was never a point when he was not mixing atleast two songs together, and his transitions were flawless. It was a pretty fast tempoed set like 140, with these awesome mixes creating this otherworldy beauty out of the mindblowing chaos of beats. He would essentially create like original songs with his mixing, like even creating build-ups with the way he was mixing in songs, how he was layering them, if you hear him you'll understand what i mean. Some of the highlights were hearing his mix of bullion and oizo (which you can hear in the accompanying mix) live as well as when he dropped M83's Slowly, that was epic. From what i can tell, he is amazing at what he does, playing tracks like they were notes on a piano, he had no headphones and was really rocking out stuff on this awesome device he has called a monome, apparantly he does things on the fly too, just wow. One of the must see shows out there. Really just an extraordinary DJ and Producer. People were flipping out. You can get a pretty good feel of what his set was like from this attached mix, you also get to see what daddy kev is like too, though its a bit different from what he plays live. Anyways, Daedelus is a must see show if he's coming by a place near you. enjoy the mix, you can get more at the low end theory site>>>

Low End Theory Mix Vol. 5 w/ Daddy Kev + Daedelus (Right Click, Save As)

I'd Also like to add how much i enjoyed hearing Oizo dropped more than a few times that night, especially analog worms.

BONUS TRACKS:

Mulatu Astatke - Yegelle Tezeta

J's Additions:

You want some Daedelus tracks? We've got some here and more importantly here

Avicii Part 2

Welcome to part two of Avicii, there's not much to say that I didn't say in the first post below. I made sure to pick a lot of great ones for this post, I kept many of my favorites for this one, so don't think I just posted my favorites in the first post. I intended to get this up yesterday, but then a song idea came in my head and cut the post short, but it's here now.

So at the bottom of this post I'm posting three Zip files: My whole collection, the first post compiled and this second post compiled.

Enjoy:

I said in the last post there was a better remix of Dirty South by this guy so here it is, it's been all over the house blogs over the past few weeks:

-J

*ALL LINKS REMOVED


We Are Feat. Rudy (Avicii Remix) by Dirty South, I really enjoy the original but Avicii beat it. Taking the best from the original and adding his own great line. So what you get is the best of dirty south + Avicii (who's amost always great)= Amazing song.


Strutnut (Original Mix) by Avicii, I think Ryu got more press then this but I do like this song better from the EP. However I will say that:

Ryu (Original Mix) by Avicii, is a Great Song. Very progressive. In the words of M, "Keep it clean and safe."

Electric Masturbation (Original Mix) by Avicii, as Jumpman hasn't posted in a long time, I'm assuming this song is referring to him. Sorry dude it just had to happen.

Almost (Original Mix) by Avicii, Great.

Sphere (Original Mix) by Avicii

Time to get Ill by Avicii, electro electro electro, I like how Avicii puts out some electro stuff, shows diversity.

Play that Next Episode (Original Mix) Avicii, it's 12 minutes long, crazy.



Full Avicii Collection Zipped.

First Post Zipped.

Second Post Zippped

If you wanna go digging through to take what you'd like:
Here you go my Collection, I like to pretend and trick myself sometimes that I wouldn't go through such a thing if I saw it on a blog, but I'll admit I'm a huge loser who would take that time to do it.

Viens Ici?

I don't like that picture.

Avicii is a producer from Sweden who has, at least in my book (pretty sure in M's Book too), come as a close second to our current favorite Afrojack. Avicii is a producer who is relatively hard to define in genre. But if I'm honest he's definitely more of a progressive guy, but he does have his tech house side to him.

Sorry it's been a while since I posted, I explained it was the whole Mammoth thing, and though I'm still in Mammoth, I managed to get shit uploaded.

I have so many songs by Avicii that I'm splitting this into Two days and two posts. My Collection will be posted tomorrow, for today I'll post a good 7-8 favorites.

I hope you enjoy this amazing producer as much as I have been.

Hey and SURPRISE, they're all 320. EDIT, M'S A DICK AND THERE'S ONE SONG THAT'S 192 (but that will be in my collection).

-J

*ALL LINKS REMOVED

Sometimes I Feel (Avicii Remix) by Dim Chris & Sebastien Drums feat. Polina
My Favorite Song by Avicii, all you have to do is listen to it, and you'll understand why.

D10 (Avicii vs Philgood's Vicious Remix) by Dirty South,
Not my favorite Remix of Dirty South that Avicii has done (I will post that one tomorrow), but it's damn good, plus I do love the original quite a bit.

Music Around The World feat. Teacha (Avicii Remix) by Austin Leeds, Nick Terranova
Classic, more techy but you definitely feel the prog.

One Step Forward (Original Mix) by Avicii,
What the fuck? Where did this come from? Yet catchy in some ways. But still sounds very elementary compared to everything else. ELECTRO

So Excited (Original Mix) by Avicii
So cheesy. Typical Prog Chords. This is actually as far as I can tell a different version of his song Excited, but this one is definitely better. Say you want to see me again.

I think I should post this here because well, I like this better then both excited and So excited. In fact it's just an incredible song:

Excited (Sebastien Bennet Remix) by Avicii, Look forward to this. Such a good line.

Malo (Original Mix) by Avicii
Malo Malo Malo Malo Malo Malo, such a good loop.

Muja (Original Mix) by Avicii, Sounds like TV Rock, so that's always a plus with me.


Don't worry though, I saved most of my favorites for tomorrow. This is just a taste, plus tomorrow you get the collection.

Trumpdisco

Nobody is allowed to put the word "Disco" in their DJ name anymore. We certainly have enough of that, so let's try and get a little more creative, shall we? But we can't just boycott the guys that do, because I love a lot of em, including the duo from Aussieland by the name of Trumpdisco. I was first introduced to them by their rather underwhelming edit of Proxy's Raven, but since then they've just impressed the fuck out of me. Enjoy these bangers, definitely prefer his originals to the remixes:

-M

Trumpdisco 1971 - Trumpdisco
Wow. Electro is still alive and well. Thanks for the reminder. God I love this track so much. It's a funky banger? It's just so goddam COOL.

LOTR - Trumpdisco
Everyone should start their sets with this song. EPIC.

Hello (Trumpdisco Remix) - AC Slater
Dubstep at 130 BPM. Seriously.

Knackern (Trumpdisco Remix) - Lucky Dip
Similar sound as above tracks, but doesn't stand out to me as much. Still a banger by all means.

We Want Your Soul (Trumpdisco Remix) - Adam Freeland
Different sound from them this time. It's nice.

Who Are You (Trumpdisco Edit) - Proxy
Super distortion. I'm not too big on that whole direction that some Electro guys are going in now, first and foremost Proxy. The Bloody Beetroots are doing it too. It almost feels like Electro is just trying to appeal to metal fans now, and that's not the Electro I fell in love with in 2006.

Raven (Trumpdisco Edit) - Proxy
It's alright, but it's too hard to top the goddam original. The Crookers remix is quite good, too. But it's been played to death already. Then again, I tend to play to college students who haven't heard any of these, making that whole problem disappear :)

The guys also run a BLOG, figured I'd mention that. More suited for the Electro fans that like the more hardcore sounding stuff.

Y@ Returns

Ok, I love my M-Audio Axiom too, but that's a little excessive. I guess they do things a little differently in Canada, and we shouldn't judge. If you don't recognize that face, it belongs to Wyatt Compagna, otherwise known as Y@, who's been featured a few times on this blog. Each track just gets better and better, this newest one being no exception. You can really tell how much time he spent on every single drum sound he used and the patterns he made. This track is an electro club banger. And no, bangers are not dead, fidget is not dead, fuck the blogs that are now only posting that funky UK shit, whatever that is, because it's so IN right now. I hate trends.

-M

Stop Drop & Roll (Original Mix) - Y@

Best of luck to him, apparently he's getting courted by some record dude affiliated with fellow Canadian Lazy Rich, one of the better Electro House producers right now. Check out our posts on him HERE.

Chocolate Puma

So, lately I've been focusing on what was happening in House music a decade ago. But I will take a break to discuss today, mainly, about how the Dutch scene is absolutely destroying. With the likes of Laidback Luke, Afrojack, and Fedde Le Grand, the Dutch are unstoppable. The overall arching sound of the area is an awesome blend of minimal, tech, and progressive, making some of the raviest music that also appeals very much to hip-hop fans, oddly enough. This post will focus on the Dutchmasters by the name of Chocolate Puma, who actually discovered Laidback Luke and helped his rise to fame. They have the Dutch sound described above with the addition of some Tribal sounds which are really cool.

-M

Disco Electrique (Vocal Mix) - Chocolate Puma & Bingo Players
Amazing. That bass sound just kills me every time. This would EXPLODE at a rave.

Git Cho House On (Chocolate Puma Remix) - Mike Dunn
Git cho house on, children it's time to groove.

Whohaddrums (Original Mix) - Chocolate Puma
This song may be somewhat boring in your headphones, but the key is to imagine the crowd at the main stage of your favorite rave singing along to the awesome tribal beats.

Also, had to include this INCREDIBLE Funkerman remix in this post, just because:

Sexy Girl (Funkerman Remix) - Chocolate Puma
BOMB BOMB BOMB BOMB BOMB BOMB BOMB BOMB BOMB BOMB BOMB
Funkerman is Fedde's partner in crime, if you will, similar to how Chocolate Puma does a lot of work with Bingo Players (check our very old post on them HERE).

Chocolate Puma Collection (By Tracks)

Chocolate Puma Collection (All In One ZIP)

BONUS:
Monthra (Bart B More Secured Rework) - Jayvin Mena
Bart B More typically has a more electro sound, but with this amazing prog/tech track, looks like he's trying to move towards his Dutch friends. Get more of his old tracks HERE.

Why Gartner is Critical To Your Business

Gartner does Prog? But I mean it is a remix of Tiesto so it kinda makes sense I guess. I will also take this time to say sorry for not posting for so long, I'm up in the mountains on a family vacation and the internet here sucks, so I can't upload anything without it taking like days. I'll post tomorrow when I get back home. But until then, this can't be overlooked.

While Gartner is obviously the clear winner, I do very much enjoy the Benassi remix (It's him doing what he always does, but he just does it so well). Surprisingly the Tiesto Remix beat the Laidback Luke Remix in my opinion, funny; too bad Laidback's kinda going downhill.

Wanna get all these remixes? I'm sure you do. Well stop on down at Temple of House's post as he's already been kind enough to post all of them, not to mention in 320!

-J

P.S. I will start off by saying that I have nothing against Swehouse as a blog, in fact they're one of my favorites and I thank them for introducing me to House in some sense and more specifically introducing M to Gartner, but I think we should get some credit for something, or M should to be more specific. Swehouse also posted the Gartner and Laidback Luke, and in their titled called Gartner "our savior". I feel as though we pioneered such thinking here, here, sort of here, here, and of course here. However, maybe M read this somewhere and hasn't realized that in fact someone else pioneered such thinking about this awesome man, who I've heard is related to Jesus...BUT, it's just a rumor.

French House Arrest Episode IX: Trouble In Paradise

Continuing along our journey, we're gonna stay in the year 1998 for one of the more interesting stories of a little feud between two of the biggest producers of the time. Also included is an early track from one of my favorite house producers. Short post today, I feel like I've been packing too much into these so this one's sort of a break.

Gym Tonic - Bob Sinclar

In 1998, Bob Sinclar released a track called Gym Tonic, an awesome French House groove with a great sample from a Jane Fonda workout. However, turns out the track was actually made by our hero Thomas Bangalter, and Mr. Sinclar released the track on his album Paradise without his permission. In fact, Bangalter would experience several problems just like this, due to his notoriety for finding the best samples. Bangalter wanted to hold on to this track himself and use it as a secret weapon to drop in his own sets, but it was clearly too big to be contained.

We Are - Sébastien Léger

Sébastien Léger rules, and has pretty much dominated every sub-genre of House music that he's taken a stab at producing, though it seems like his favorite is his own little brand of Progressive Tech House. This track, however, is his awesome French House jam from 1998. Cheers to Ilictronix for the track.

French House Arrest Episode VIII: Music Sounds Better With Roulé

Finally, we have moved on to 1998. While I still stand by my saying that the year previous was the most important/awesome year for French House, this year saw the release of THE French House track as well as more releases from the undeniable master of the genre. Also came the first release of one of my favorite french house acts.

-M

[Roulé 305] Music Sounds Better With You - Stardust

This is it. This is French House. This is the giant mega-hit that the genre produced. Eveyrone knows this song and can very easily sing along to it (its not like the lyrics are that difficult anyways). Stardust was born when Thomas Bangalter, Alan Braxe, and singer Benjamin Diamond were playing live together in the famous Rex Club in Paris. While Bangalter and Braxe looped a very short sample from Fate - Chaka Khan and turned it into a House groove, Diamond instinctively sung these infamous lyrics, and the track was born. It was clearly fate. And now for some remixes of the track you won't find on its official remix album:

Music Sounds Better With You (Dimitri From Paris Remix) - Stardust
Of all the tracks in this post, this is my favorite to play live. It's all about the second drop.

Music Sounds Better With You (Bob Sinclar Remix) - Stardust
Has the cooler, more lounge-y French sound.

[Roulé 306] Trax on Da Rocks Vol.2 - Thomas Bangalter

His second batch of original tracks for his label. Contains the colossal track, appropriately named Colossus. God is Thomas Bangalter.

[Scratché 701] Buffalo Club - The Buffalo Bunch

The first release from French House superstars The Buffalo Bunch. Possibly my favorite French House group, but its terribly difficult to make a certain call on that. Although this is certainly not my favorite release of theirs, it's their first and happened to fall in the year 1998. For ALL OF THEIR TRACKS, check out our previous post on them HERE.

Everyone should check out the blog Boards Of Electronica. They have so many awesome releases that you pretty much will not find anywhere else, except the few I've re posted in some of these episodes. Use the tags on the right side to help find what you're interested in.

French House Arrest Episode VII: Oizoliscious

Man, I'm so happy to be posting again. This is the last post on the godly year that was 1997. In this episode is the first release from one of our favorite producers. Also, I'm posting the album that defined rave music during its time, and it sure wasn't house.

-M

#1 - Mr. Oizo

Jumpman tells me that this release is the result of Oizo handing in some demos to Laurent Garnier, who then told him that he should be making music. In fact, most of Oizo's pre Ed Banger Releases were on Garnier's label, F Communications. Now Mr. Oizo rules, and surely you all know that. Every time he releases something, it has a completely new sound but still contains that unique sound that's undeniably Oizo. However, this release is somewhat French House, but much more along the lines of the Motorbass / I:Cube techno-y / deep house sound rather than the disco sounds that were becoming more and more popular during this year. This is not an accessible EP by any means, but my guess is that if you're reading this, you're a fan of Mr. Oizo and are at least curious to try it out. If you haven't heard of Oizo, then just take my word for it: this shit is cool as hell.

The Fat Of The Land - The Prodigy

This album is the shit. While the French were making house cool again, those British blokes by the name of The Prodigy (but everyone knows it was all Liam Howlett) were tearing the rave shit up with their undeniably awesome hardcore sound. I'm gonna bet that Breakbeat music comes back soon. I mean all the big names have been touring recently, and there are NO Breakbeat producers getting any rep on blogs. It may take a year a two, but when 90's culture rears it's head back into popularity, you can bet that underground Breakbeat producers and DJs will too. I'm actually really excited.

BONUS:
The Party (Splitloop Remix) - Rico Tubbs
Contemporary, probably the only new Breakbeat track that I've gotten from blogs (Pelski specifically). It's awesome, and I want more from Splitloop. Big Electro influence. DJs looking for something different to drop in their sets should definitely pick this up. If anyone has ANY Splitloop, PLEASE hook me up.


Once again, for those of you that follow this blog, if the blog for some reason disappears without warning again, just head on over to apeswithbarrels.wordpress.com where we'll continue our mission to become the greatest pirates to ever surf teh interweb.

we're back?

WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED? BUT WHO GIVES A SHIT, WE'RE BACK FOR SOME ODD REASON.

-J

So, blogger deleted us a few days ago. Why they did, probably for copyright violation. But now the blog, along with our google account, is miraculously back up and running with no explanation. Maybe it was a glitch? I don't know. But your favorite pirates are back to provide you with the best in dance music. Good to be back. However, after this little incident, we'll probably getting our own domain name and transferring everything thats been posted here to that. Fuck blogger. I've also copied this entire blog over to Apeswithbarrels.wordpress.com, so if for some reason this blog were to get deleted again, we'll be there.

-M

Apes With Bicycles

-J

French House Arrest Episode VI: Ice Cube?

No, not Ice Cube, but rather I:Cube, the awesome Frenchman whose work contributed to the evolution of the French sound. Also featured is a random track which I can't recall where I got it from but it was released in '97 and is awesome so I'm including it. Also, a little insight into what was happening in House music outside of France.

Also want to give a big shout out to our one reader from Budapest, Hungary. Major props.

-M

Picnic Attack - I:Cube

This album is a lot more like the 'Motorbass' sound with big inspiration from the disco sounds coming from everyone around him. Also, Daft Punk remixed on of the tracks on it, and it's definitely one of their best (Grab it HERE).

Faithfull - Fantom

Awesome track, great example of the genre. EP includes an Etienne De Crecy remix, although the original mix definitely wins.

Insomnia - Faithless

Famous track from the UK in 1997, one of those that everyone recognizes when it gets to "that part." Ishkur calls it Anthem House, makes sense. Shit's epic as hell, but corny as shit. Doesn't matter though, its pretty awesome.

For those interested in a blog that posts rare albums, I highly recommend Boards of Electronica. Great source for all sorts of music. The best way to use this blog is to check the labels and find what you like.

D.I.M. and Tai You Have Come Bearing A Single Gift Which Might Destroy the World

Boys Noize Records are officially on top with both the release of Jeffer and now this. Serious bomb. D.I.M. may not be the best dj in the world, but this make up for it in every single way possible. I couldn't really find out who TAI is but i'll make sure to let everyone know when I do. I'll be playing this track for months, I might even start some sets with it. Don't miss you, it's HUGE.

-J

Lyposuct by D.I.M. & TAI (320)

Bonus:

Lyposuct (Noob Remix) by D.I.M. & TAI, Not as good as the original, but still fucking great.

Feadz: People Money Numbers Business - EP

Ed Banger hasn't been releasing much this year, they'd built up so much momentum over the past few years but have been relatively quiet since, probably due to all the touring, but they need to pick up the game considering how prolific Boys Noize manages to be, however with that being said, wait, i would also like to comment that Krazy Baldhead's release wasn't that great i was dissapointed after his earlier material, ok with all that being said, their latest release, by none other than french electro house DJ/Producer and former Uffie-mate, Feadz is really fantastic, i've always liked his material, which has this raw, funky, old-school, 80's, hip-hop sound. Every release, especially since he got signed to Ed Banger has been getting better and better, and plus he helped Mr. Oizo out making analog wormz attack, so that puts him pretty high in my book. Thank God he didn't dissapoint. The first track 'Constant Ovulation' is really oldschool electro/techno in the end, but still pretty cool , although it is my least favorite on the EP. The Second track 'The Bright Side' is just a really amazing electro-house track, not a banger but, just like a pretty 80's track, vaguely reminiscent of like boys noize's mellower housey tracks. As for the third track 'Age 21': MMM this track sounds so french to me, this ones more ravey, its like cool but electro-ey 90's house, love this one. 'Liisborg Error' is definately the hardest hitting track on here, just really ravey electro-house, really amazing stuff here, unexpected sound from feadz though. The 'Flashin' Outro' is just classic french house, just really good. Overall, really nice EP, maybe his best. But i don't know how accesible it is really in the end. you judge. really listen, if your reading this blog you'll enjoy it>>>

Feadz - P*M*N*B - EP (LINK)

French House Arrest Episode V: Party Like It's 1997

Back on track and in our favorite year ever (the year I picked up Piano actually) 1997. This year marked the release of the quintessential French House/Touch album, being Super Discount from Etienne De Crecy (pictured). However, it was actually released a few days (really days) after Homework, so it definitely was not the first like many claim. Also, I'm including the first release on the label Crydamoure, a label set up by Guy-Manuel De Homem Christo of Daft Punk and Eric Chedeville. Discogs describes the label as such: "Deep French House label bringing together the finest filtered sounds from the likes of Paul Johnson, Daft Punk and DJ Sneak." Definitely the most important of the French House labels, everyone should head over to Solid Goldberger to grab its entire discography.

-M

Super Discount - Etienne De Crecy

If anyone every asks you what French House / French Touch is, this is its defining album. It's extremely cool and stylish. Collaborating with such artists as Alex Gopher, Etienne De Crecy definitely made one of the most awesome albums ever, definitely a big step up from his work with Motorbass. Even if you're not sold on your first listen, I promise you that you will appreciate this. Also, I couldn't find this shit posted ANYWHERE and had to buy it on iTunes a while back. Figure I should give him money for this though. Funny how iTunes Plus gives you 224 kbps mp3s when I steal 320s every day. What's the point of buying music if I can get better quality for free? P.S. If anyone is thinking of buying me any gifts for any particular reason, this on vinyl would be optimal :)

You should also head over HERE for some remixes by Mr. Crecy.

[CRYDA 001] Santa Claus / Holiday On Ice - Le Knight Club

First release from Le Knight Club, made up of the label owners Guy-Manuel and Eric. Holiday On Ice is my favorite of the two, such an amazing groove.

BONUS:
Aurora - Alex Gopher
Guaranteed to get your crowd jumping. This track is from 2008*

Double Stacked

Taking a very short break from French House Arrest to give you this track. Been looking a while for any Joey Youngman tracks, and I finally found one. Joey Youngman would be the real name of Wolfgang Gartner, and he used to make Jackin House, which I guess is like an energetic blend of Disco House and Deep House.

-M

Double Stacked (Original Mix) - Joey Youngman
Some of the coolest shit I've heard in a long time. Definitely want to include this in my next set. On loop.

French House Arrest Episode IV: Backtrack

I do still insist that 1997 is the biggest year for French House, but I realized that I left out some important/awesome developments that occurred in 1996.

-M

Venus (Sunshine People) - Cheek

Now I can't really speak for its significance in terms of the evolution of the genre, but this did predate '97 and is just awesome. The true winner is the remix from DJ Gregory (my favorite track in this post), but the I:Cube remix is also amazing. I:Cube is another important DJ in the creation on French House, and you'll be seeing his album in one of the upcoming '97 posts.

Le Voyage - The Mighty Bop

The Mighty Bop, more commonly known as Bob Sinclar, was another very important name during the foundations of French House. He even had a little incident with Thomas Bangalter over a certain track, to be posted eventually. This particular track that I posted is very Hip-hop/Breakbeat influenced along with the funk/space influences of the French Touch and, of course, is just as cool as everything else his peers were releasing at the time.

Sacrebleu - Dimitri From Paris

Dimitri From Paris is so cool, that he's become the Playboy Mansions resident DJ. His style is a mix of House, Disco, Hip-hop, and Lounge. This is not really French House, but very much in line with the whole French Touch scene, almost like Daft Punk and Air had a child that decided to move to Cancun. And nobody can deny that the man has style.

Also, everyone should check out the blog Ilictronix. Great source for French House, among other stuff.

French House Arrest Episode III: Parisian Disco Pogo!

So we've now made it to 1997, the biggest year for French House, most importantly the year that Daft Punk released their debut LP, Homework. Some other really important things happened too, and they'll be covered as well, but this episode is about Daft Punk. I've also got a very early release from Alan Braxe, who would go on to make very important contributions to the direction of French House towards a more synthy sound with Fred Falke. 1997 was they year when French House really became known to the world as the powerhouse that it is now. Hell, even David Guetta rode the wave to fame.

-M

Homework - Daft Punk

I mean, it's Homework by Daft Punk. If you don't have this already, you're truly missing out. Completely produced in their own bedrooms, all I can say is masterpiece. This alone defined them as the masters of French House, landed them a spot on Pete Tong's Essential Mix show on BBC Radio 1, and a tour.

Essential Mix 1997 - Daft Punk

The best DJ mix. Period.

Alive 1997 - Daft Punk

Of course, not nearly as awesome or innovative as Alive 2007, but they didn't have as much material to play with yet.

[Roulé 303] Vertigo - Alan Braxe

Great EP. Not only did Alan Braxe create one funky ass track, but then Thomas Bangalter supplies one of the most incredible remixes ever. This definitely worked heavily towards defining the genre.

BONUS:
Grab a bunch of other /rarer Daft Punk tracks HERE.

French House Arrest Episode II: Thomas Bangalter

Jumping back to 1995, House music was of course not doing so well, but their were some guys, like Motorbass, working to revamp House music into something much cooler than ever before. Then along came Thomas Bangalter. This man is the MOST important person in house music history as far as I'm concerned. His solo productions along with his collaboration with Guy-Manuel De Homem Christo, otherwise known as Daft Punk, pretty much defined the French House music. He is to House what Miles Davis was to Jazz. Miles Davis fostered the creation of Cool Jazz (very similar to French House in it's undeniable cool factor) and then pioneered the evolution of Jazz into fusion. Many say that Jazz stopped evolving with his death, and that may very well be true. But I digress.

-M

[Roulé 301] Trax On Da Rocks - Thomas Bangalter

So Mr. Bangalter set up his own little label called Roulé for the purposes of releasing his own material and eventually others. This, obviously, is one of the most important French House labels. Trax On Da Rocks was released in 1995 and contains what I will call the first French House track ever, Ventura (once again, all statements that I make are based on my knowledge at this point). He introduces the use of filtering samples in House music, which was a HUGE step in its development.  Acid House was using filters to get that super resonated sound, but he was filtering his samples to make that effect that  pretty much every House track uses now. However, this is still not a French House record, as the other tracks don't quite fit the mold. French House is waiting for 1997 for its giant coming out party.

[Roulé 302] Spinal Scratch - Thomas Bangalter

By god, this is a fucking French House track. Its funky, housey, dancey, cool, awesome, and everything else that French House is. Bangalter just opened the flood gates, as this track was released in 1996, one year before aforementioned coming out party.

French House Arrest Episode I: Motorbass

I've been meaning to do this for a while, so I've just decided to go ahead and do it. I will be beginning a series of posts on the history of French House, or the period in which Electronic Dance Music became cool again. The posts will be in chronological order and feature a bunch of different artists all affiliated with the French House sound. Some posts (like this one) will have a lot of stuff, some will not. This was very much inspired by Solid Goldberger, the mother of all French House blogs, and I highly recommend that everyone interested in French House dig through its archives in order to get yourself discographies of some of the great French House labels like Crydamoure, Roulé, and Vertigo.

House music. After it was invented by gay black dudes in Chicago and New York during the 80s, it soon lost its innovation or any real interesting driving force. This all changed when some French dudes took hold of the genre and completely revamped the sound, adding in much cooler elements of funk, disco, and just plain awesome samples. House music was suddenly cool again.

So then who started this movement? I'm pretty sure the answer is the collaboration of Etienne De Crecy and Philippe Zdar, called Motorbass. Etienne De Crecy is widely considered the originator of the French House sound, and he will be discussed more in depth in Episode V. Philippe Zdar is another incredibly important person in the history of French House, being a member of Cassius, and has even gone on to produce for other French Touch bands such as Phoenix. The work of Motorbass in the early 1990's would lay the foundation for the new emerging sounds that would become the French Touch.

-M

1st - Motorbass

1st was released in 1993 and its by no means a French House album. In fact, the best genre to place this album would be Techno. However, you can hear the influence of Deep House and the only word that accurately describes their sound is 'cool.'

Transphunk EP - Motorbass

Transphunk is where you can really start to hear the French House sound coming to life. This was also released in '93, predating the work of Thomas Bangalter and Daft Punk. Once again, all I can say is that their sound is so fucking cool, and what makes it even cooler is that no other electronic music at the time really sounded like this. But once again, still not truly French House, as there's even a Breakbeat track.

Pansoul - Motorbass

Pansoul was the debut LP for Motorbass released in 1996, and definitely their most essential release. The tracks are cooler and housier, developing the French House sound further along its path. Highly Recommended. Although this came after the early works of Thomas Bangalter, I call this the first French House album.

BONUS:
Around the World (Motorbass Vice Mix) - Daft Punk
Very strange, you can barely recognize the original in it. Once again, very cool.