Genres for Genres

I got to thinking this morning about how ironic it is that people are so discerning about their taste in films, yet when it comes to music, some people are content to dance the night away to Fedde Le Grand.

I draw a lot of parallels between movie and music - not least because seeing a B-grade movie is just like listening to bad music - there's nothing wrong with enjoying it once in a while, as long as you realise that what you're listening to is absolute tripe.

This chain of reasoning led me onto wondering how each genre of music could be represented as a film. So, without further introduction:

House

Regardless of what kind of house music you listen to; deep, funky, jackin', soulful or gospel, it's all feel good. Excluding that of the acid variety, house music is almost always happy. Common lyrical hooks can include such inspiring, well written gems as:

"you gotta be strong!"

"keep on moving!"

"higher! higher!"

"feel the love!"

"I'm so overwhelmingly gay it hurts!"

As such, the logical movie partner for house music is the romantic comedy; effortlessly happy, relentlessly optimistic, and often very annoying. The two are such an uncanny match I hardly believed it myself. Romantic comedies always seem to follow the same pattern: guy meets girl, falls in love, messes it up big time, then triumphs in the end with a grandiose gesture that wins her back. House music is the same - vocalist falls from grace, finds God, then returns to "see the light!".

Colin Firth & Hugh Grant. Yuck.

The last nail in the coffin is a convincing one. What kind of people willingly watch a romantic comedy? Women and gay guys.

What kind of people enjoy house music? Women and gay guys!

Love Actually, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones Diary, You've Got Mail, What Women Want

Techno

This is a tough one, because, like house, techno can encompass a wide range of different feelings and styles, from Detroit to Schranz - though I'd say one feeling is more ubiquitous than any other, which is "my music is much cooler than yours".

Yes, tech-heads see themselves as a cut above the rest, better than those glowstick-loving ravers, anyway. The sheer amount of snobbery commanded by techno purists is enough to make even Lord Thistlethwaite the III drop his monocle in fright.

Of course, techno is often passed off as "intelligent music", but I don't think there's much intelligence about it at all - it's simply less fluffy than trance and house, and less twisted than the harder genres. The word "conservative" comes to mind.

So? What kind of film correlates? One that thinks it's smarter than it really is? Well, if we're talking about slower techno and tech-house, it's surely "the heist" or "thriller" film. You know, the one where the clever thief and the lead investigator play the sophisticated cat and mouse game, each trying to appear more at ease than the other?

"I know you stole that painting, Pierce"
"You think you know, so what are you going to do about it? "
...and so on and so forth.

If it's the harder type of tech we're talking about (Adam Beyer or Chris Liebing), then you've got yourself a murder mystery of course - same kind of thing, two characters jostling for position, each trying to outsmart the other - a sheer battle of wills, much like trying to explain to tech-heads that their music isn't the best thing ever, really.

The Thomas Crown Affair, Seven, Ocean's Eleven, Entrapment

Trance

Did I just say a dirty word?

Trance, you either love it or hate it. If you hate it, it's generally for one of two reasons:

1. You don't like flying over rainbows to magical happy land on the back of a unicorn.

2. You think trance is too fast, too hard, and pretty much the same as Gabba, in which case you've never really listened to it in the first place.

Trance is a music composed of WONDROUS melodies, overblown euphoria enough to make Willy Wonka cringe. Most of the people who listen to it are living in dreamland, riding on cloud 9, entranced by those shiny lasers and ascending arepggios. What fun!

Thus, trance can only be one thing: a fantasy movie.

Trance crackers are a lot like your average fantasy movie fan; they're lost in their own little world, oblivious to the aspersions being cast on them by others, and they like to dress up in stupid clothes too. Whether you're an Elf Mage dressed in a goblin-repelling green tunic, or a dirty raver wearing female-repelling phat pants, your head is in the same space - not on this planet.

Nice ears.

Tech and hard trance are a little more grounded, with a repertoire of harder beats and less of that namby-pamby, 20 minute breakdown, hands-in-the-air crap. As such, they embody darker tones and arguably cooler themes, which is why they are a Sci-Fi movie.

Bigger kick drums, harsher percussion, faster beats = robots, spaceships, aliens and lasers (of the destructive, killing kind of course, not the kind you reach for at 3am). Duh. Still, though Sci-Fi is generally pretty cool (think Arnie in Terminator), just like hard trance, it's also kind of gay - ala Star Trek.

Lord Of The Rings, Beowulf, The Matrix, Aliens, Merlin, Harry Potter

Hardstyle/Hardcore/Gabba/Hard NRG/Happy Hardcore/Hard House

Don't try and tell me there's significant differences between the genres, because there's not. They're all as stupid as one another - ear wrenching synth stabs, melodies that sound like they were composed by a monkey dancing on a synthesizer, and that blistering BPM. Music for infantile minds, really.

The movie choice is so easy I shouldn't even need to spell it out - schlock horror.

Like horror movies, the "hardcore" genres are meant to be scary, enjoyable purely for shock value. The people who consume both these types of media pride themselves on their "harder than thou" attitude, but don't realise that everyone is laughing at them.

Hockey mask: an effective cure for low self-esteem stemming from one's aesthetic deficiencies.

Paper thin plots, shonky acting, unconvincing scariness and questionable entertainment value, they all translate perfectly to hardcore. Paper thin melodies comprised of shonky sounds coupled with stupidity rather than scariness, and so on and so forth.

Resident Evil, Nightmare On Elm St, Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer

Psy/Goa Trance

To the amateur ear, psy-trance sounds a hell of a lot like hardcore. Fast tempo, big, scary bass lines, twisted, random noises and plenty of stupid vocal samples about drugs. Right?

WRONG.

Yes, Psy-Trance is still like a horror movie, but it's one with good acting, genuine moments of fright, and a believable plot.

Saw: twisted shit.

Still - you have to wonder about the minds of these people. House heads might be gay, tech heads pretentious, trance crackers off in la-la land, and hardcore aficionados missing two or three chromosomes, but what kind of sick mind enjoys this deranged, scary music, or spending three days listening to it out in the wilderness without a shower for that matter?

Saw, Identity, Psycho, Silence Of the Lambs, A Clockwork Orange, The Ring

Indie/New Wave/Electro House

Where house is outright flamboyant, indie considers itself playful, with such awe-inspiring vocals as: "disco, disco, disco, disco, disco, disco, need to disco!", and quirky themes about girls who like to go ten pin bowling.

Really, the genre is pretty much as stupid as hardcore, though it's lacking the "scary" element, and doesn't take itself nearly so seriously either, thus making it the brainless comedy. See here for more detail.

Dumb & Dumber, Night At The Roxbury, Anchorman, Billy Madison

Jungle/Drum 'n' Bass

Drum 'n' Bass is a very closed scene (at least where round these parts), with people outside of it largely clueless as to the kind of people who attend and where the parties are held.

Like trance, it's listeners are very much wrapped up in their encapsulating world, but much more aware of what the hell's going on around them. Their dark, fast music scares others away, making entry to the scene relatively difficult for most.

Thus, DnB's dark tones, fast pace, and strange sounds are much like that cult sci-fi movie which you've never even heard of. The background is impossible to grasp unless you've read up on the internet, the story too intense and long-winded to bother with, and plenty of stuff about futuristic vampires, clones and espionage. Definitely entertaining if you know what's going on, but otherwise just a crock of shit.

No examples here: they're all too underground for me (maybe Blade).

Dubstep & Grime

A close relation to DnB, Dubstep is a gritty, underground genre which fuses many elements, often using them to good effect, but sometimes missing the mark. It's accessible to the masses, due to recognisable elements such as MCing, or it's deep bassy synths. When done well, it's not too bad. 99% of the the time, I'd rather stab myself in the eye with a rusty fork instead.

Snatch, Lockstock & Two Smoking Barrels, Fight Club, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction

Leftfield/Trip-Hop

Now, here's a genre which you won't hear me slagging off. Surprisingly, this is a style I admire massively for it's innovative approach, artist integrity and emotional feel, yet rarely listen to. Why?

It's boring as hell, that's why. Where's the energy lads?

The best thing about the genre is the fact that by it's very nature, it can't be bastardized. In EVERY genre, there is good and bad music, and a selection of tracks made by talentless producers simply for fame or money. Left-field strives to be different from anything else, and thus doesn't seem to suffer so much from "cookie cutter" generic elements that other fields do.

It's unique, clever, and emotional all at the same time. It's an art house movie!

Just like art house, it's brilliant when you're in the mood, but if you're not, it's tiresome and you'd rather watch anything else, even Resident Evil or Night At The Roxbury.

American Beauty, Babel, Shawshank Redemption

Music Review: Booka Shade - Charlotte

From the forthcoming new album is Charlotte, which continues in the same vein as past works. As usual, will be released on Get Physical of course.

The first track on the release is simply labelled "remix", leading me to believe the new album will contain the original mix. This tune sounds like a leftover from Movements, an album I have enjoyed many times over. It has the same smooth bass line, the same clapper sounds, and the same warbly synths as many of their previous tracks. Added is some soft female harmonising which is a nice touch.

However, while this is undeniably "pure Booka", Charlotte (Remix) is missing the infectious hooks and catchy strains that made Night Falls, Body Language and Mandarine Girl so popular, instead employing an unmemorable melody which will no doubt impact the song's airplay.

While hardcore fans will no doubt still fawn over this release, I'm disappointed to see such a sameness of sound two years on. Though generally this is a solid track, cruising along with typical Booka ease, somehow dancey and relaxing at the same time, it still feels a bit dusty, as we've heard this exact same sound too often. Nevertheless, a good listen.

The second track on the release is "Booka's No Pain, No Gain Mix", which really adds little to the aforementioned description, being more for DJ programming usage than anything else it would seem.

Third up is the Dubfire Remix. YAWN.

Why the hell does everyone go crazy for Dubfire productions? Ali's music makes me positively sleepy; it's a fine example of "plodding" techno; music that has no soul, no rhythm, and goes no where. In this generic track, that great Booka bass line has been removed and replaced with a monotonous string pluck and boring hats. Horrible, absolutely horrible. This would be fine if there was melody to keep things happening, but the melody has been largely stripped back too, leaving nothing but pure poo with which to indulge our ears; six minutes of dubby bass line and minimal percussion with minute variations.

Three tracks in and I'm less than impressed.

But! In flies newcomer Matchbox, with his "Right Or Wrong" remix, single-handedly saving the day!

Matchbox's version adds a happier bass line, switches the Booka percussion for something slightly different, and pours a whole lot of emotion on top, a stark contrast to Dubfire's cold remix. Providing most of the feeling in the track is a blissful breakdown which uses an array of interesting sounds, but ties them altogether nicely, with my favourite being the 80's style tom-toms. Altogether is has a more serene feel than the other three tunes, and clearly shows that Matchbox put of lot of work into this, as rising producers out to impress the world tend to do.

On the other hand, the other three songs feel positively heartless and rushed; the efforts uninspired producers completely comfortable within the scene, knowing that their names alone will be enough to make people go gaga over their work. On the whole, a disappointing release, but worth it for the last track alone. Sample below.

Techno

Silly Americans...

DJ Review: Joris Voorn

Track Selection: 50/50

After seeing a recent interview with Voorn in which he stated that people over here were going to be surprised by his new sound, I was surprised with how little he had changed from the last time I saw him in 2005.

Opening with something not dissimilar to his own When It Was Day We Made It Night, Voorn launched into some punchy, head-nodding beats to get things started, with some his own melodic stuff rearing it's head, such as Let's Go Juno, under the Rejected alias with Edwin Oosterwal.

Soon after was some slightly harder stuff, such as the tricky and infectious Cliche, again under the Rejected name.

In the second half of the set Voorn's harder side was truly revealed, and to rapturous response, with throbbing bass lines pounding the ears of everyone in the club, the first of these being Joris Voorn - MPX_309, which was overlaid with a slightly interesting male acapella, as well as others such as Redshape - What's On A Moog's Mind? and Phuture - Rise From The Grave (Tiefschwarz Remix).

Also well received was Oliver Huntemann's stellar remix of Underworld - Crocodile, which was the last gritty track played before Voorn bought the set to a melodic close with his own Many Reasons, and a beautiful flute song of which I'm dying to know the title.

Technical Skills: 25/30

Using 3 x CDJ 1000MKIII and a DJM 800, Voorn worked completely off CDs for the night, making deft use of the 800's on board effects, however his mixing left a lot to be desired at some points. Ill-timed bass drops, shonky fades and strange phrasing caught my ears several times, as well as those of the less technically-minded people in the group who usually don't take notice of these things.

However, don't get the wrong impression; he's by no means a train wrecker; his mixing is quite adequate and generally pleasing, though his attention to detail is lacking in places.

In terms of effects; there were occasions when Voorn used delay and reverb beautifully, and at times, that nice filter on the 800 extremely effectively, whipping the crowd into a frenzy with a deft flick of his wrist. However, at other times, he could be seen furiously twisting knobs on the left-hand side of the mixer attempting to undo the damage he'd done to a perfectly good song. Very "hit and miss".

Set Flow: 10/10

Melodic. Hypnotic. Throbbing. Banging. Melodic. In that order.

Voorn's set structure can't really be faulted in any way. As I often state round these parts, I do love techno, but some DJs leave me nodding my head til I fall asleep, playing generic tracks one after the other, with no variation.

Voorn, on the other hand, had a great variance of sound, in the right order, but with enough coherency to make for a very smooth journey or the two or so hours.

Showmanship: 1/5

Disappointing. Perhaps it's because he concentrates so hard on the mixer, and what he's going to play next (very admirable), but he hardly looked up all night.

Consistency: 5/5

Review based on one show in '06 and the other in March '08, both brilliant. Other reports from around the globe have been no different; Voorn is a maestro.

Overall Score: 94/100

On a final note, besides looking like a 16-year old dork, rather than a much-revered international tech-head, I'd like to put forward the theory that Joris Voorn is in fact a Savant (those people who can memorise Pi to 20,000 decimal places), because he has the most disorganised CD collection I've ever seen, consisting of single jibberish worlds scribbled in black marker pen on hundreds of discs, all thrown in the same case with seemingly no organisation.

DJ Review: Sven Väth

Track Selection: 45/50

It really annoys me when people say "I didn't like DJ such and such because he didn't play the song I was expecting him to play".

Fair enough, it's great hearing that DJ drop his massive bomb, but don't let it ruin your night.

Seeing Sven, the reverse was true for me. Lucio Aquilina's blissful Magic M was bought out within the first hour or so of the set, which really made me happy and set the tone for the rest of the set. Wasn't too hard to guess this was going to be played, seeing as it was released on Väth's own label, Cocoon, just a few weeks ago. Another melodic number on Cocoon was Argy - Unreliable Virgin, which I frankly find a little boring and contributed to Väth's set being flat in parts.

Other melodic numbers included Joris Voorn's Minor and The Deep, proving why Voorn was a leader in the techno scene last year and will continue to be in 2008.

On the harsher side was Michael Mayer and Superpitcher, under Supermayer, with Two Of Us, and Steve Rachmad with Moog On Acid, displaying the talents on Music Man Records adroitly.

More well known was Alter Ego's Why Not?, which drew an enthusiastic response from the crowd. I like this one, but it's a bit overplayed and is starting to do my head in a bit.

Overall great eclectic look at techno, most of it very fresh, but I found some parts of the set a little monotonous.

Technical Skills: 28/30

All vinyl? In 2008? Are you kidding me!?

Damn it's satisfying to see a jock spin all night on vinyl, I don't think I saw Väth touch the CDJ once. Throughout the whole set I was glued, as he gently prodded the wax, confidently slip cued and generally showed what 20 years experience in the dance scene can do for you. It was pure delight watching as he tweaked the mixer and teased the crowd with the faders in other spots, bringing in snippets of the next track or dropping the bass.

His transitions were pretty good, though a few times I heard some rough bass switches, one point off for this.

Effects usage was fairly minimal though well executed; he loses a point for rough usage of the faders, sometimes sampling tracks slightly off beat.

Set Flow: 9/10

Besides a few flat sections where the club just seemed to be floating, set flow was superb. Beginning with melodic numbers, Väth soon progressed into some more repetitive loop-based stuff, picking up the pace on the dance floor.

In the last half hour, after thoroughly entertained the crowd with melodic, deep, minimal, tough and all the sub-genres in between, Väth moved into some more trippy, avant-garde works, with a strange yodelling/male vocal song finishing the set.

Showmanship: 5/5

There's not too many jocks whose reputations truly proceed them. Yes, people get excited about various acts, but just how many are known for their antics rather than their music?

Perhaps Daft Punk for their light show, Halliwell for his craziness, and Fatboy Slim for his sheer love of the crowd.

Sven Väth is another. The guy is just a party animal, and everyone comes prepared.


As shown here, one of his favourite tricks is to take his shirt off and wear it on his head like a turban. He parades around the stage like some kind of demented cabaret dancer, clearly off his head, leering and the crowd and throwing his hands in the air when they're not on the decks.
Topless for half his set, I noticed his choice of "commando style" (i.e no underwear). Yes, it's all an act, but as much as anything, the guy loves to party, and the crowd respects that.

At the end of his set I observed him stuffing pills into the faces of his entourage in the booth (Gui Boratto, Steve Bug, and a few other hangers-on).

Due to play an open-air festival set at 6pm the next day in Adelaide, 40 minutes away by plane, Väth stayed up til past midday, playing another substance fuelled set at Revolver, Melbourne's dirtiest, darkest and arguably most musically accomplished club, just for the hell of it. What a guy. He's what we call "a loose cannon".

Consistency: 5/5

Brilliant reports all round, both from this year and years gone by.

Overall Score: 92/100

Review based on one set in March 2008.

Selections

Hi!

Sorry for th lack of updates this week; it truly has been a horrible one for no particular reason at all, and writing on here has been way down the list of priorities.

Anyway, some interesting stuff coming up in the next few weeks. Seeing Sven Väth play again this weekend for the second time in the fortnight, so a review will be up for that soon after. Also on the cards are Mark Sherry, Roger Sanchez and Eddie Halliwell again, as well as John Digweed, who I may as well do a solo review for; I'm strongly of the opinion that he is the stronger half of the Sasha & Digweed act. I'm also considering a review for Sanchez, but won't confirm anything yet.

...but, onto the real business today, here are some nice little techno releases I've been listening to this week.

The first is by a group called "d.o.t", entitled Outland.

All I can say is; thank god that atonal, loop based techno is finally making an exit from the worldwide producer consciousness. Nothing wrong with a pure rhythm, but sometime it all just becomes too much. To me, it seems like melodic techno is making a major comeback (or has been for some time), and I couldn't be gladder.

At first listen, the A side of this release, Outland, appears to be another boring tech house number, but it's far from from it, really. While the intro is a little slow, hollow xylophone-like sounds round out the middle of the track, climbing up and down, down and up, accompanied by human rasping sounds and some melodic background pads. The bass line is a little slow but the other elements make up for it. It would be easy to criticise that this is too basic, however I like the simple interplay of elements which create something more than the sum of their parts.

On the B side, more quality is evident in Fly Song, if even simpler than the A.

From the outset, the track leads strongly with an extremely common synth, but employs it more effectively than most artists would. Heavily reminiscent of a Carl Craig piece, this tune is brilliant in it's one-minded approach, using just the one sound repeating, building and morphing, slowly drawing the listener in before a harsh bass line takes over at the half way mark, setting up a brilliant crescendo that comes to bear in the last quarter of the track. Percussion is overall a little weak, but not as necessary in a track like this as in others. Light cymbals spatter the song mostly, providing just enough light to take away the dark edge in the latter half of the piece.

Listen to this release of last week from Troia Recordings below:



The second release today is from Parisian trio Dop, who put out The Lighthouse on Orac Recordings earlier this week. The group has a great approach to music, comparable to Apparat, in that they don't seem to mind crossing the borders between house, techno, hip-hop and down-tempo, all in the one track.

The first tune, The Lighthouse, employs raggedy, realistic sounding drums and some beautiful flute work, making me think this was actually recorded using real instruments (shock horror!). What I love about this track is the sheer amount of imperfection present; it sounds honest and warmly inviting. In fact, it doesn't even sound like a pre-conceived notion; more like a late night jam session in a trendy jazz bar somewhere deep within the concrete jungle. The vocalist, who I assume is Jonathan Illel, has the perfect voice for this kind of stuff, barely intelligible with a kind of "late-night-sleaze" feel to it. As a result, the track meanders along, with no particular goal, but manages to entertain greatly nevertheless.

On the B Side is Merci, a track far more studio-polished and unfortunately more boring to my ears. This one is definitively "tech-house", but spiced up with some clever sounds which remind me heavily of a radio being tuned, and tail off into a whistle during breakdowns. Again those seedy vocals are present, this time limited to single spoken sentences at opportune times, but no less effective.

Finally comes Under The Rain, a little experimental thing which is pretty much impossible for me to describe, so...just listen to the sample. I like it.

Music Review: Your Face Is A Mess

Released earlier this month was a remix pack of Gel Abril - Your Face Is A Mess, on Be As One Imprint, a fledgling Israeli label run by Shlomi Aber.

Abril's original track was released in November last year, and this release adds three smooth techno versions.

First up is swiss maestro Deetron, with an epic ten minute take that blends his trademark strong percussion with smooth pads and subtle builds. Backed by a punchy mid-range kicker with vague hints of female harmonising, strong progression keeps the track extremely cohesive, enveloping you in melody as it slowly adds elements such as tight string plucks, shuffling high hats and swirling white noise builds. No real "peak time" element to this one though, it focusses solidly on mood rather than energy, and achieves much with seemingly little. It's Deetron's careful layering that creates this.

On the B Side, the UK's Mark Broom takes it a little more upbeat, though keeping the progressive, moody feel. In comparison to Deetron's lengthy story, this feels positively rushed, though no less impressive, with some similarly subtle builds, but a far better usage of the sinister, whispered vocals from Abril's original, popping in and out of the mix throughout the duration of the song and creating something arguably more interesting than the A Side.

Finally comes Itamar Sagi's remix. If the name seems familiar, it's because Sagi appeared on Shlomi Aber's State Of No One album last year, collaborating to produce Same But Different. Sagi's version takes a very different tack to the other two, going for a more housey feel with his percussion, and overlaying sharp, catchy synth stabs, creating a great sense of urgency. However, what this gains in approach it loses in execution. It lacks the beautiful melodies heard elsewhere on the release, and doesn't have the same sense of effort behind it, though it's still a commendable piece of work.

Full samples below.

Music Review: Booka Shade

Soon to be released on Get Physical is Booka's new one, City Tales, the title track of which can be heard on M.A.N.D.Y's Fabric Mix, using the Neon Dub Mix.

Forget the Booka Shade you thought you knew; this one is dark, and vaguely scary; a far cry from the catchy Body Language or Night Falls. No, the first track of the release, the club mix of Planetary is far more like Triple Identity, one of the duo's darker and lesser known tracks.

Opening with some very von Stroke-ish whistling, Booka's strong sense of rhythm is immediately apparent, with a lighter tech-house kick being followed by some vaguely African sounding blippy noises not unlike those in Eric Prydz' Tigerstyle, under the Cirez D alias, and followed later on by croaking frog noises of all things.

What really makes Planetary, however, is a strange wavering organ, which sounds, strangely enough, like wind and other "night" noises filtering through...a city, a big, terrifying city. This comes to a peak in the middling breakdown, where the organ gets harsher and harsher, playing out in a descending note pattern with more and more scream injected to it every time, which sounds great. From here out, it's reasonably happy to the end.

The dub mix of Planetary is quite similar, but features less melody and more "bounce", making it a bit more club friendly.

The Neon Dub of the title track sees a return to brighter territory, using similar percussion to the first two songs but stripping back nearly all the nasty elements and injecting some faint paino-ish noises and some (again) very von Stroke, The Whistler-ish "uh" noises by a male vocalist. This is my least favourite song on the release, but one which I predict will be more popular with crowds, simply for it's greater sense of groove and shuffling rhythm.

Selections

Haven't posted up any new tunes for a while, so here goes. Unfortunately there will be no mp3 samples today, but in future there will be.

Kevin Saunderson - Bassline (Joris Voorn Remix)

An amazing opening track, or perhaps mid-set breaker, this one builds, and builds... and builds. Don't hold your breath. Melodic pads drone repeatedly over and over, changing tone and timbre every so often. This is repetition at it's finest, and proves why Voorn is at the top of today's techno tree. It's not until three minutes into the track that the sublime melody drops, sounding like beautiful drops of sparkling water, before dropping back into that hypnotic drone.

Lucio Aquilina - Magic M/My Cube [Cocoon Recordings]

Both are blissful in their own right, nice tech-house numbers with bouncy, sugar coated melodies. Magic M is my pick.

Kos - Azteca [Toolroom]

This tech-house cruiser was used as part of Zabiela's final melodic hour last weekend. Still unable to find a copy, though I think it should be available on beatport soon; a majority of Kos' other releases are.

(thanks for the ID, C)

Almost forgot...

Ron Carroll - Nike Song (Nathan G & Blackfrog Airmax 90 Remix)

This song pissed me off badly the first time I heard it, but every time I listen to it, it keeps getting better and better. I'm a big fan of Nathan G's previous work, and this funky house number is no different to everything else he has done. Solid hook, great rasping percussion, and a catchy, fun vocal.

Interview: M.A.N.D.Y

Well, I'm officially back from holidays and more tired than when I left (more on that later). Saw Zabiela play a four hour set last night (review up soon) and nearly fell asleep at the end.

Anyway, here's a nice interview I did with M.A.N.D.Y regarding their excellent new Fabric mix. It got a bit silly towards the end, but only because I knew in advance that these guys have a great sense of humour!

Regarding the new Fabric mix, why did you decided to cram 25 tracks in? Was it because they were all just too good not to include?

The poor fabric guys cleared [for copyright] one hundred tracks for us because we couldn’t decide. It’s very difficult to put everything you want to present on one CD. We play long sets and they vary quite a bit, so we tried out a different approach.

How do the two of you go about compiling mixes like this? It’s hard enough for some DJs to do it alone. How do you prevent clashes of ideas?

For some reason it works out very fine. It’s very nice to discuss and interact while doing a mix. One finds this amazing record and the other finds another which fits perfectly and so on. This could take a very, very long time.

In choosing songs, are there ever songs that you keep secret or discover independently of one other, or does the fact that you work and party together mean you have a mutual knowledge of new tracks?

Quite a lot actually, as we have different sources where we get our records.

How do you think having such short track times changes the dynamics of the set, as opposed to having perhaps 15 songs only?

While playing a set, we would play the tracks longer of course, but on a CD you have a serious time limit, so it’s much more about thinking and testing which records fit well with the following and how long you can listen to it without being bored.

Was the Fabric mix done on Ableton, or on decks?

Half half. Normally we always do mixes live and then edit the tracks in Ableton. We like the dynamics and little mistakes you hear in live mixing, it makes it more interesting in our ears. The first half was done in Ableton as had a serious time issue at the end.

How do you work your mixing? One transition each, alternating?

When you do a mix in a tiny little studio it needs to be only one doing it. Selection is done by us and then one goes to the studio and does it, though the other one is always around as well.

Why is it you often tour separately?

We very often have only two hours play time and even alone it’s sometimes not enough.

How do you decide where you go, is it based on the reputation of various cities and how good the scene is there?

You always know somebody who has played there already and you get your information, especially about cities where you have never been and where you are not sure about the club situation or security etc.

[Side note: for this reason it’s hard for cities to break into the dance scene and get decent acts to play – few will come unless the place has a good reputation]

What do you get up to overseas when you’re not actually doing a show?

Same like here [at home], trying to enjoy the place where I am. Maybe go to the beach, museum or just walk around the city. Last time in Argentina we went to the countryside and did some horse riding for three days.

What’s it like DJing at home for the first time after many months touring?

It’s super nice and super tiring at the same time, as you see a lot of your friends and you want to talk to them, but of course you have to play as well…

Do you guys live together in Germany, or do you have separate places?

We both live in Berlin in separate apartments, but we have lived together several times too.

Why is it that although Booka Shade have co-written most of your releases, “Body Language” is the only one with their name in the title?

We sort of knew it was going to be bigger than the other tracks we did together, so it was totally normal that we share the credit.

Have you ever thought about doing a joint tour with Arno and Walter? It would be natural seeing as the four of you are such good friends.

We did it already a lot of times. Not a whole tour, but quite a lot of gigs. We love it, it’s always best to tour together.

You guys have been in the music scene in Germany now since 1990 and before! On a large scale, how has it changed since your early days?

Obviously it has changed a lot. A bit too much to explain all the development since then, but of course the whole digital issue is the biggest challenge the music business has ever experienced. Especially for the majors it’s a sensitive time.

Has it gotten better or worse? Where do you see it headed in the future?

There are always two sides I believe. It’s good that people now all over the world have access to the same music and are not depending on 1-2 big compilations which come out twice a year.

I believe that more and more labels are trying to sell their music and merchandising directly to their customers [Kompakt is a good example here]. To keep all the rights to yourself is seen at most independent labels.

There was a lot of controversy surrounding “Body Language” being sampled by Will I Am. Why did you decide to release the sample for use, and what is M.A.N.D.Y.’s opinion of the finished track?

The question is why shouldn’t we? He’s a respected artist and did some good songs in the past. It’s not our favourite song of all time, but that’s ok.

You guys used to be ravers, which is funny because the scene you are in now despises trance and is generally considered a lot cooler. Did you guys ever do the whole “big pants and glowstick” thing?

When we say we were ravers, we were totally hooked on that music and everything [in life] was related to this. We bought records like crazy, did 1001 tapes at home, hung out with friends at home after crazy party nights to play all the weirded records we didn’t hear all night. Every weekend we drove somewhere where we knew there was a good DJ.

[By that definition I’m a raver through and through.]

But no big pants and glow sticks for us.

Why did you both make the decision to leave that scene? (Maybe your brains were too fried?)

We never left it, but you can’t really do anything else if you live this way, so it’s obvious that you have to calm down a bit in order to get your life moving.

What do you think of the trance scene back then, how would you compare it to the tech-house scene?

Honestly, it’s all the same. At the time, it was called trance and everybody was listening to it; the whole Frankfurt scene with the Omen and the Dorian Gray with all the ravers that came from different countries. You can’t really compare it with trance nowadays. At the time, it was new and groundbreaking. Now it’s called tech-house, minimal or electro-house. It was just the music of that time.

Do you still listen to trance at all? What modern and older artists do you like?

There’s only good and bad in our eyes, however you call it, but for sure we are not aware of the actual stuff that is going on in the trance genre.

You’ve often joked about M.A.N.D.Y. being named after a woman. What would she look like if this really was the case? Or, alternately, which female celebrity would she be?

She would look like us of course. Maybe without the hairy face.

You’ve stated that some people in Australia actually thought M.A.N.D.Y. was a single female DJ until they saw you play; have you ever thought about bringing an outrageously good-looking supermodel to gigs and passing her off as such?

Not really, but of course we like to take them with us, just not in the business sense.

Is Philipp related to George [Jung]?

My mum tells me “no”, but you never know…

You guys are known for your crazy “lust” parties back in the day, which were used to have fun, not make money. Obviously everyone got pretty loose, and some wild stuff went down. Tell me about it.

We were living in Frankfurt and we needed a place to play our own records, as nobody wanted to book us, so we did our own parties. We had some older guy who was in the underground art scene and he helped us, always finding these very special locations. Also, we always invited performance groups that appeared in the middle of the night doing really crazy stuff. Everybody was really shocked, but there were always nights you had some good memories.

DJ Review: Jesse Rose

Track Selection: 44/50

Over two sets in two different venues, I found Rose's selection to be generally excellent, though I thought it a little "samey" at times.

Everyone knows what he plays though - glitch house, fidget house, whatever you want to call it, chopped vocals, off beat kicks, sudden pace changes - this is party music in it's purest form.

A track played last night, The Futureheads - Worry About It Later (Switch Remix) epitomises Rose's selection perfectly: choppy, disjointed, bouncy and fun.

This kind of music isn't really my forte, so although many, many tracks were familiar to both myself and he crowd, I knew only two other tracks for sure. One was a remix of DJ Shadow's distinctive hip-hopper Organ Donor, and the other being the catchy Matthew Herbert - Moving Like A Train (Smith 'n' Hack Remix), which Rose finished with.

I love Moving Like A Train. How many dance tracks use brass bands like that?! This was a great ending track, as it got the crowd clapping in time and revved for the appearance of Marc Romboy who was on next. Listen to a sample below.

Technical Skills: 27/30

One word: raw.

Rose isn't highly polished like some, but his pure improvisation skills make up for it. In terms of transitions I noticed him highly adept at phrasing and layering, in that as one track was breaking down from a kick and clap combo into just a plain kick, the incoming track would be doing the reverse, creating a sharp, noticeable change in the clapper sample, which he would hold before slamming the faders to switch the kicks.

Brilliant, brilliant usage of equalisers during songs, not so much during transitions. Rather than muck around with fancy filters, Rose was more than content to ply his wares using his high and mid knobs, creating fake build-ups, or enhancing existing, not unlike like Stacy Pullen. Once or twice his timing was out by a fraction of a second; nothing serious of course.

However, Rose loses points for confusing the crowd a few times by dropping the bass out, going into a build, then returning the beat out of time or phrase, whatever you want to call it, so no one knew when to go nuts!

Set Flow: 8/10

Like electro-clash and hip-hop, this style of music is tough to build a coherent set, but Rose does a pretty damn good job, really.

Intensity varied nicely at a few points in the set, with one peak lasting a good twenty minutes and having the whole room jumping and laughing, while other bits had us just nodding our heads.

Showmanship: 4/5

He's a wild one, is Jesse. On hand throughout the set was a bottle of vodka, of which he was gulping straight from the bottle before turning back to the mixer to blow us away.

For basically the whole time his head and shoulders bounce up and down in time to the music, constantly in frenetic motion; really a great beacon for the crowd.

Consistency: 5/5

Two great shows.

Overall Score: 88/100

Review based on two shows in January 2008.

Music Review: Fabric 38

Released later this month, Fabric's next installment is mixed by German tech-house duo M.A.N.D.Y.

Strangely enough, the single CD mix features some twenty-five tracks crammed onto it, but don't let this fool you into thinking this is a poor mix; I mean, this is M.A.N.D.Y!

After a short intro, the set opens with the almost Caribbean strains of Yello's Bananas To The Beat, full of harmonic chanting and stripped-down percussion. Two points: yes, this is the same Yello that did Oh Yeah, which Booka Shade and a few others remixed in 2006. Secondly, the fact that this track was produced in 1980 gives you a good idea of where the mix is going; this isn't some overblown "newest, most underground techno" wank fest, it's a collection of tracks that fit superbly together in an expression of aural bliss. Mind you, a vast majority of the tunes are brand-spanking new, and sound terrific, which is a side-effect of living in the heart of Germany, the power-house for this kind of material.

Moving on, and things get melodic by track four, Mederico by Guillaume & The Couto Dumonts. What's most astounding is how seamlessly the pair have managed to blend music nearly 30 years old with that of 30 days old; it's not easy at all.

Some brilliant, fresh tunes can be found in Lucio Aquilina's beautiful Magic M, which sounds a lot like Shlomi Aber's recent work; deep, melodic and emotional. On the "dirtier" edge, Robag Wruhme's Dopamin rounds out a nice dark peak in the set before things begin to soften again.

Overall, a brilliant mix. From deep and melodic to dark and edgy, then back again, it tantalises and ensnares. I must admit, I'm really not much of a set listener, generally I don't have the patience or often the time, and being a control freak and half-arsed DJ myself, I love choosing what comes next. This CD is testament to M.A.N.D.Y's skill; for there wasn't a single song or transition I didn't enjoy, even after twenty-five tracks, from the very beginning I was hooked and made the time to listen. Highly recommended.

01 Intro
02 Yello - Bananas To The Beat (Original Mix)
03 Minz - Darkslide
04 Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts - Mederico (Original Mix)
05 Quarion - Karasu (Crowdpleaser Remix)
06 Gui Borrato - Tipologia (Lucy Remix)
07 Mark-Henning – Sticknote (Original Mix)
08 Decimal – Idiosynkratik (Original Mix)
09 Lucio Aquilina - Magic M (Original Mix)
10 Booka Shade – City Tales (Dub Mix)
11 DJ Yellow & Astrid Suryanto - To The Top (Guy J Remix)
12 Dubfire - I Feel Speed (Audion Remix)
13 Martin Eyerer & Toni Rios – Chorizo (Original Mix)
14 Robag Wruhme, Wighnomy Brothers and Rolf Oksen – Dopamin
15 poxyMusic feat. Gina Mitchell - Warpaint (Claude Vonstroke Remix)
16 Djinxx & X-Pansul - Spanish Kebab
17 Matchbox – U Can Get Sonar
18 Deadset - Farm House (Deadset Dub Tool)
19 DJ T - The Dawn (Nass Remix)
20 Simon Flower - The Whisper (Mark August Remix)
21 Raz Ohara –Kisses– (Kabuto & Koji Carnea Rmx)
22 Basic Soul Unit - Tunnels (Sebo K & Metro Remix)
23 Lopazz - 2fast4u (Julian Ganzer Remix)
24 Mike Monday - Bhalobashi (Sideshow Dub Mix)
25 M.A.N.D.Y - Don't Stop (Original Mix)

DJ Review: Marc Romboy

Track Selection: 42/50

If you know Romboy's productions, you know his DJing.

Tracks such as his Stephan Bodzin collaboration, Atlas, are a perfect example - low, droning bass lines that evolve slowly over time, overlaid with gritty melodies and clear-cut percussion.

I really liked the songs I heard, however I've taken points off for a couple of reasons. At the first gig I witnessed, there was some inappropriateness of selection and generally a poor read of the crowd. Also at times I found a lot of the tracks too similar to one another - good for coherency, but can be boring.

The local DJ playing prior, Gavin Keitel, worked a nice techy set that built to an energetic peak and had the crowd moving massively. Romboy came on straight after, opening with a slow builder which would have been fantastic in any other situation, but just totally killed the vibe, and subsequently pissed off the crowd. People would have been prepared to wait around for it to pick up again, but the first twenty minutes were slooooow, and hence a lot of the crowd decided to visit other stages. Perhaps this was Keitel's fault for playing harder stuff - the smaller act should defer to the headliner in this way - but in his defence, the day was beginning to progress into night, and the crowd was most likely looking for something with a little more punch. Besides, seeing this, Romboy should have continued in this fashion; it felt to me like he had a pre-prepared set that he didn't want to deviate from.

The second set I was present for was more impressive, with a higher level of energy and a far better read of the crowd, reacting nicely to our cheering. The tracks played between both venues were quite different, representing a good grasp of different crowds at different places.

Now, onto actual tracks; I only managed to ID three unfortunately. In the first set, Oliver Huntmann's remix of Underworld - Crocodile, in my opinion his best work since 37 degrees, was well received later in the set when Romboy finally started to pick up the pace again, and an unknown remix of Mr. Oizo's Flat Beat would have garnered the same, were it not such a choppy mix removing much of the main hook. The second show saw 37 Degrees itself getting played, which shook the foundations, as well as the Flat Beat remix again.

A lot of music seemed vaguely familiar, however with tech-house such as this, that often seems to be the case!

edit: Just found another ID from the first set, completely by accident. The track was Robag Wruhme & Rolf Oksen - Dopamin (Original Mix), which was played early on and contributed to the dreary, slow-paced mood, despite being an excellent track in it's own right.

Technical Skills: 30/30

Really couldn't find fault here, as much as I tried. Romboy was a superb mixer, with great transitions between bass lines, and excellent fading of outgoing tunes.

His hands never seemed to leave the mixer for both set, with a lot of effects and dramatic equalising taking place.

Set Flow: 8/10

A sloooow, slooooooow start in the first show loses him two points here. I'm a big fan of DJs who build it up slowly; it's ridiculous hearing big, banging tracks dropped at the start of a set, however, Romboy's first time slot was for a mere hour, affording him perhaps ten minutes before needing to pick up the pace. It was at least half hour before this really happened.

The second set was better timed, and gently teased the crowd before destroying their heads.

Showmanship: 5/5

Just to piss off the techno purists, I'm going to say this: Romboy reminds me a hell of a lot of Armin van Buuren when behind the decks.

Bouncing round on the balls of his feet, lightly jumping up and down, and generally just smiling at everyone, Romboy exudes a happy energy that rubs off on his crowd.

"Showboat" would be a great word to use - many times he seemed to be dramatically working the mixer, when my ears told me that there was really nothing going on. A few times he crouched down behind the decks, eyes and hands on the console, before springing into the air when the track dropped - all this from a man with grey hair!

Consistency: 5/5

Very good reputation in the techno community, and not without reason. Both sets I witnessed were quite impressive.

Overall Score: 90/100

Review based on two different sets in January 2008.

DJ Review: Green Velvet

American Curtis Allan Jones has been a producer since 1990, known for his undeniable sense of fun. Since his first productions he has branched out with two major aliases, Cajmere and the now infamous Green Velvet.

Track Selection: 35/50

Inconsistency is Velvet's biggest problem, he jumps between genres far too often. However, putting this aside, some great banging techno was played.

If you compare Adam Beyer's relentless techno onslaught to that of a fleet of battle tanks advancing, then it's only fair to call Velvet's an atomic bomb. Massive, booming kick drums underscored a vast majority of the set; you could almost be forgiven for thinking Jones is a hardstyle/hardcore act.

After opening with an acid-techno track, he quickly jumped into his own productions, serving up the ear-shattering Flash, quickly followed by the slightly commercial yet quality Shake & Pop. The remainder of the set continued in similar fashion, but with three or four completely surprising and, dare I say, unfitting tracks played. Paul Woolford's clever Erotic Discourse, under the Bobby Peru moniker, was an example of this, however definitely the strangest choice of the night was James Holden's ethereal 2004 remix of The Sky Was Pink, among the last three songs of the set. After so much brain exploding techno, this threw the crowd completely.

Plastikman - Spastik received a dull response from everyone but myself during the very middle of the set, but was slightly dampened with a female acapella along the lines of "put your hands in the air", not too sure what this one was.

Of course, the most well received track of the night was the famous La La Land, which Velvet sang completely live with his own ad-libs. This was great, really great.

A few other tracks were also sung live, using the headphones of all things. I didn't even realise this could be done until last night.

Technical Skills: 22/30

Very coarse mixing was a bit of let-down, with obvious blends between tracks and little attention paid to equalisation. Effect usage was minimal.

I don't have much more to say besides that really! Layering of tracks was used reasonably well a few times, but the poor transitions, consisting of short, obvious fades, counted against him.

Set Flow: 4/10

The poor set flow was a big surprise, as I generally find that DJs of Velvet's vintage have a fantastic read of the crowd borne through years of experience.

Rather, Velvet started with his biggest, hardest track, went weird for a while, dropped The Sky Was Pink and then finished almost as hard as he started. All over the shop, basically.

Showmanship: 4/5

Sporting a huge, manic smile before he even hit the decks, everyone in the crowd knew that he was there to enjoy himself. Kudos, it lifted the mood in the room instantly, and upon entering the booth, his smile and constant head movements in time to the music were infectious, with everyone in the crowd getting into it.

Consistency: 5/5

I've heard that he plays mostly the same show week to week.

Overall Score: 70/100

Producer first, DJ second, though still worth seeing.

Was disappointed not to hear Green Velvet - Genedefekt (Cajmere Remix). Boo hoo.

Review based on one show in December 2007.

Selections

My selections today are all from Croatian label Home Made Electronica, purely because I'm absolutely loving their unique blend of synth pop, progressive and tech house. The happy-go- lucky synth pop influence is something I'd love to see more producers pursuing; it's a great sound. That way, in two years when the market is saturated, I can start complaining about how it's been bastardised. Just kidding.

Note that updates will be more frequent now that I'm on holidays from work.

Dizalica - Dark Elegance (Original Mix)

I have a feeling this one was made using FL studio, mainly because of the prevalent and strangely familiar hi-hats. This track is a perfect marque for HME's sound. Amateur yet professional and slick, happy and completely danceable.

Very simply, it's based on a nice punchy kick, with a hint of bongos, and a long-travelling, track dominating hi-hat, which really makes it for me. The main melody is simply a clever arp that repeats over and over, with no discernible start and end to bars or sections.

If there's one complaint it's that the tune doesn't "go" anywhere, but that's irrelevant because this will never be a floor-filler. It's brilliance is in it's simplicity, as it's more so a nice bridging track, especially as an upbeat ending to a darker set.

Examine - Mandalin Girl (Original Mix)

Tech-house in an Agoria-like mould, this one is fairly uninspiring for it's first half, composed only of a kick, clap and bassline, and a variety of random sounds jumping in and out of the mix every few beats. It's not without reason though, as the song builds extremely subtly to a very classy rhodes piano breakdown three minutes in, which sounds definitively hand-played (as opposed to sequenced).

The break calls up thoughts of a genteel Mediterranean day, striding along a beach. It's almost trancey in a Chicane kind of way. It comes to a laid-back peak with a dramatic increase of reverb, which leads to the original beat returning with little variation from early on, but this time accompanied by that great rhodes piano, which begins to get a repetitive but still charms greatly.

If you like Agoria or Matthew Dear, this, and the other two tracks on the release, Jacked 2, and the Davor O Remix of Mandalin Girl, will probably excite you too.

Shuma - A1

Relentless in an Adam Beyer/Drumcode/Mad Eye kind of way, this dark techno number sounds simple at first, but, like these tracks, has plenty of subtle background elements that keep things interesting.

Both sides of the release are interesting, but I prefer more energetic A1 over Ground Zero.
A1's main kick features a reverb/delay effect that creates an interesting rhythm for the tune, but what really makes it is the hypnotic two-note melody that drives itself into your brain like a railroad spike, while clever xylophone hits in the background perhaps account for the Beyer-ish sound. White-noise build-ups reminiscent of electro-house add a unique edge.

This is loop-style techno at it's finest.

DJ Review: Adam Beyer

There a few acts I specifically wish would come to town, but Adam Beyer is one of about three.

After seeing so many photos, it was good to see the man in the flesh, and see what he had to say for himself...

Track Selection: 50/50

No definite IDs unfortunately!

Just be safe in the knowledge that Drumcode is well represented by it's honcho. The trademark techno loop sound is flogged extensively throughout Adam's sets, with artists such as Par Grindvik and Hardcell being well represented.

To be honest I was surprised, impressed and more than happy with just how hard Beyer can play. Following on from Yoji Biomehanika and followed by Chris Liberator, the crowd was never going to accept a soft set from him.

I was expecting a set full of something I like to call "tricky techno"; tracks with clever, cheeky melodies that take unexpected twists, such as Adam Beyer - China Girl or Rejected - Dec Trec.

Instead, we were treated to a solid two hours of chugging, chunky and outright banging techno.

Too many techno acts I've seen recently bored the pants off me with their monotonous, head-nodding sets that are great for half an hour but then leave you wondering where the energy is. Funk D'Void and DJ T are two examples that come to mind.

Beyer, on the other hand, represents a far finer form of techno in my opinion, banging, energetic, and percussive to the last. This is electronic music in it's very purest form; percussive rhythms that stir a man's soul and make his feet move, true electronic music, stripped back of all the bullshit vocal samples, the ridiculous contrived melodies and anything else that can potentially be abused by lacklustre producers.

This is "minimal" music, but not in the current sense of the word - as in small, sparse sounds given masses of room to breathe in the track, on the contrary, Beyer's definitive version of techno is all monster bass lines and booming kick drums, with swishy hi-hats and perhaps a few bleeps to back it up. In short; there's just no bullshit, it's just pure, unadulterated rhythm.

Technical Skills: 30/30

A few others in our group seemed to think his beat-matching was little sloppy in some parts, and, as much as I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt for picking up something I didn't, I feel this would be detrimental to Adam's score, which is already lacking in other areas (don't scroll down just yet...).

His mixing seemed to be extremely spot on to my ears, which, being front centre and completely sober for the entire set, perhaps makes my recollections more accurate than that of others. I distinctly remember a few sections of break-beat being used which could very easily be mistaken for poor beat-matching, as well as a few "wobbly" bass lines which can make a 4/4 beat sound a bit different.

All in all, very smooth equalising and great phrasing with a minimal usage of superfluous effects made for an impressive set from a technical standpoint. Also, first DJ in a long time I've seen use vinyl. Respect.

Set Flow: 10/10

Opening track was a beautiful slow-builder which eased us gently into Adam's headspace before things just took off from there.

Peak upon peak throbbed inexorably towards the crowd as the set advanced, finally ending with a few more euphoric tracks to round out the close.

Showmanship: 0/5

The first time he looked at the crowd was as he stepped away from the decks to allow Liberator to begin. Throughout the set, not a single smile was evident, or anything else to indicate a live human being existing on stage. Perhaps a close friend died? Just kidding...

Consistency: 5/5

Adam Beyer; producer and genre legend since the mid 1990's. You'd struggle to find a bad review.

Overall Score: 95/100

Dear Adam,

I really wanted to give you a 98, 99 or perhaps even 100, you rocked my world like few can.

Next time throw a few smiles our way, and perhaps (read: yes) you will be crowned king of kings.

Please come back soon.

Review based on one set in December 2007.

DJ Review: Kevin Saunderson

Track Selection: 47/50

Jumping on the decks after Stacey Pullen, Kevin continued in a similar, yet harder fashion, showing the crowd just how dark and thumping Detroit techno can get.

IDing was hard due to constant use of acapellas such as Todd Terry's classic Can You Party? under the Royal House alias, as well as proficient layering and looping of tracks.

Perhaps the best example of this was a melodic loop of Toto - Africa that played out for a full five minutes, backed by a pounding kick drum and a range of effects. This may have been a studio-made production or it may have been Kevin making full usage of Ableton Live - who knows?

Another acapella used well was that of Heat It Up, as featured in Thomas Schumacher's 2006 song of the same name. I've never been too sure of the original source of this vocal, if anyone knows, your input would be much appreciated!

Two definite tracks spotted were Daft Punk's Indo Silver Club (Part 2), as well as the techno banger Devilfish - Man Alive.

Technical Skills: 29/30

Using Ableton Live, Kevin was able to make proficient usage of effects, loops and everything else you'd expect.

As a result, the set was a melting pot of various song snippets and drum loops, creating a truly unique experience, the way Ableton should be used. After this rant in October, Saunderson is the first jock I've seen to truly showcase the potential of Ableton Live, if not the full capabilities, to create something decent and worth listening to.

Loses one point because, like Pullen, his mixes tended to be very bass-heavy, though otherwise seamless.

Set Flow: 7/10

I was a little surprised that his set flow wasn't better, simply because this tends to be a virtue that only DJs with years of experience behind them can master, and, with his involvement in the scene, Kevin is one of the most experienced DJs there is.

Perhaps a result of all the Ableton trickery, the flow of tr