#1 Track of 2012

It takes too much time to give you my top ten tracks from 2012 and you really only care about #1 so I'll give you my absolute favorite.  It's the Club Mix of DAVI's "Labyrinth" on Perspectives Digital.  "Labyrinth" (Club Mix) is a killer that ingeniously combines a disco moving, roller-coaster barrage of beats with the journalistic synths of late 90's progressive breaks to cast an absolutely ass moving peak-time piece of music.  There's more than a few subtleties to the track that make it purely magnificent but none is better than the tight disco loop that oscillates in and out throughout the track to match the greatest of disco loops like Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" (Howells Mix of course).  This track is extremely well thought out and 100% invigorating.  Well done DAVI, you permanently made my radar in 2012 and at the same time destroyed the dance-floor.

Chris Fortier - Live at Ashtar Mexico (1999)

This set is an absolutely insane set from Chris Fortier.  I just found it in iTunes and put it on and it instantly takes me back to what it meant to destroy the dancefloor during the peak hours of the night!  Enjoy it here:

http://www.mixcloud.com/ChunkysMixTapes/19990910-chris-fortier-live-ashtar-monterrey-mexico/

This is amazing

Tell me you don't want to be at this party...

A4 (Oct 2012)

My A4 playlist for October 2012:

1. Kurtz & Bomber - "Never Sleepin"
2. Robert Babicz - "Eastside"
3. Stanisha - "Hitchhiker"
4. Guy J - "Mish Mash"
5. Maxime Dangles - "Unsteady Curve"
6. Electric Rescue - "Stucked Ship"
7. John Digweed and Nick Muir - "Raise" (Electric Rescue Mix)
8. Victor Calderone & Nicole Moudaber - "The Journey Begins" (Original Mix)
9. Sound Process - "Traitor's Gate" (Tash Mix)
10. Matteo Monero - "Greek Fire" (Etnia Mix)
11. DAVI - "Labyrinth" (Club Mix)

N-Tchbl (September 2012)

It's been awhile since I've had anything worth writing about but I'm back to tell you that N-Tchbl's September 2012 Frisky Radio set is absolutely killer.  From beginning to end, you will hear a journalistic tour of progressive house and tribal with the last three tracks absolutely destroying your sound system.

The third to last track is the Piyush Awasthi mix of Marcelo Vasami's "Everynight" that sounds as if it's been bitten by Black Pearl's "Barracuda".  It's an evil evil track that is absolutely mind numbing.  Following "Everynight", the pace slows down just a notch for the Sasha Le Monnier mix of DJ Noor & Stefan Addo's "Distances".  This track is an image evoking piece of music with it's cresendo of piano synths leading perfectly up to the finale of the set which is an absolutely perfect peak time track.  It's called "Greek Fire" by Matteo Monero (Etnia Mix) and it reminds me of a very hard to find track titled "Blast" by Marc Auerbach and Goetz (off of Lucien Foort's "Singularity 2").  The Etnia mix of "Greek Fire" is outstandingly arranged with dissipating beats leading into singing piano riffs that build to a peak with guitar-like synths echoing against a killer bassline.  It's the kind of track that breathes on the dancefloor and would make any crowd absolutely bounce.

Download N-Tchbl's September 2012 here.

February 23, 2001

February 23, 2001, one of the best nights of my entire life.  Digweed played for almost 12 hours...at Twilo.

Cattleya

I'm really digging this new offering from Dio S and Zisis D called "Cattleya":

https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/cattleya-ep/544505963

Nick Muir - Frisky Radio Artist of the Week

Nick Muir is the artist of the week on Frisky Radio.  I'm downloading from Frisky Radio as I type.  Yum.  Track-listing below...

Scrambled

Every few days I'll run into a classic electronic track I haven't heard in awhile and that is exactly what just happened to me.  This time it was Remy's "Scrambled" off his "Bang!" album.  

The first time I heard this track was a clubbing night at Arc in New York City and it was the last track Sander Kleinenberg played that night around 7am.  I remember jogging up to the decks right after Sander played it and asking him what it was and Sander said it was just a track "his friend cooked up".  I knew then the first time I heard the track that it was killer.  The only thing I remember was this crazy loop that drove everyone crazy on the dancefloor, with the lights on no less.

The thing I love about "Scrambled" the most is the old school devil's loop that doesn't come along until almost halfway through the track and when it does it's accompanied by additional synths that completely alter the tracks appearance.  The whole track is turned upside down where the first three minutes sound as if the track is a standard house chugger but soon after the three minute mark the devil's loop is introduced and before you know it all kinds of synths are colliding to form a roller coaster of a breakdown that leaves you in the middle of peak-time chaos!  It's really two tracks in one, all Scrambled up.

John Digweed @ Ruby Skye (June 09, 2012)

My man John Digweed paid me a visit here in San Francisco last Saturday, June 09 at Ruby Skye.  It was the first time I'd properly been on a dance-floor in sometime so I was excited for night as were my aging dance-floor buddies!  Digweed was fantastic during his peaks - classic gnawing stuff that made you want to explode on the dance-floor. His non-peak stuff was a bit on the boring side to be honest - he played more than a few Maxime Dangles tracks that are interesting to hear but a bit boring on the dancefloor. His peak time chaos though made up for it - such a great night of intense music! Here's some video I took - I could definitely use some new school trainspotter help, please feel free to reply with comments if you know any of the tracks in the video:

4:30 am with Nicolas Coronel at the helm

Part 2 of Nicolas Coronel's Frisky set for May 2012 is straight up 4:30am peak-time chaos!  I love the dark tribal leading into the abstract minimal and the Club Mix of DAVI's "Labyrinth" at the end.  The 30 minute mark to the 60 minute mark is the absolute sweet spot.  Perfect set to get you in the mood for the weekend.

I Feel Love

John Digweed's tribute to Donna Summer last night in Denver, I feel the love.

Frisky Radio iOS App

Out today, new iOS app from Frisky Radio. Tune in!

iTunes Store link:  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/frisky/id524174564?mt=8

New Electronic Music: Metronomy

I went to see Coldplay Saturday night at the HP Pavillion here in San Jose, CA and it was a fantastic show. I'm not a huge Coldplay fan but wow, what a show they put with the lights, confetti, balloons falling from the ceiling and the glow in the dark wristbands they handed out to everyone.  It's well worth it if you've never seen them. The main opening act was Metronomy who I hadn't heard of before. If you think 80s mixed in with the lighter side of New Order, maybe even Joy Division, you could imagine the sounds they were producing. One track, in particular, caught my attention. It's about a 4 minute electronic song that's completely void of vocals and is constantly shifting it's direction in a manner that makes the music completely work. It's called "The End of You Too", check it out on iTunes.

Darin Epsilon - Live in Mexico (April 2012)

Darin Epsilon's April 2012 mix (Live in Mexico) is now available for download on SoundCloud.  It's been awhile since I rated a mix 10/10 but this live set is simply outstanding.  Each track is so full of sound and there's a definite progression leading up to the corker at the end by Sound Process called "Traitor's Gate" (Tash Mix).  On a side note, this track is so airy yet would instantly damage any dance floor - such a contrast that works extremely well.  There's a link below to "Traitor's Gate" on the iTunes Store.

Tracklist for this set is below.


Cid Inc & Lank - Emotional Self (Original Mix) - [microCastle]

Cumiks feat. Louder Bays - Infinity (Monaque Remix) - [Manual Music]

Damabiah - Irminsul, Le Pilier Du Monde (Andrew Bayer Remix) - [Natura Sonoris]

Hernan Cattaneo & Soundexile - Japanese Snowbell (Jamie Stevens Remix) - [Sudbeat]

Mike Griego - People Change (Original Mix) - [Replug]

Guy J - Nightstalker (Original Mix) - [Bedrock]

Oliver Schories - Wildfang (Himan Remix) - [Der Turnbeutel]

Pig & Dan and Mark Reeve - Violet (Original Mix) - [Bedrock]

Cid Inc & Lank - Emotional Self (Microtrauma Remix) - [microCastle]

Cid Inc & Lank - Urban Biorhythm (Original Mix) - [microCastle]

P8 & Answer42 - Fragments (Guy J Remix) - [Anjunadeep]

Rodskeez - 22 Dollar Chorus (Original Mix) - [Mesmeric]

Sound Process - Traitor's Gate (Tash Remix) - [Flow Vinyl]

New Discovery: Darin Epsilon

I discovered Darin Epsilon's Perspectives show a few months ago and I'm addicted.  Almost every track on his shows is a high quality production full of excellent synths and an array of sounds.  I highly recommend checking out his sets on SoundCloud here.  I'm listening to his latest April 2012 Perspectives mix which was recorded live from Mexico and it's absolutely fantastic music.

Bad-fucking-ass:

New Digweed album out March 19, a few days before the annual Winter Music Conference....in Miami.

Absolutely outstanding mix of a classic track from Sasha's San Francisco (GU009). Listen to this once and tell me you don't wanna hit the dance floor...

Der Dritte Raum - "Hale Bopp" (Sebastian Leger Mix)

This is over a month coming but my favorite set of 2011 has to be N-Tchbl's July set for Frisky Radio. The music in this set is so driving and fresh and the overall mood of the set is established early on with back-to-back tracks from Stanisha preceded by an upbeat introduction. The first Stanish track, "It's ok" is a robotic, roller coaster ride of tribal and progressive house that leads into another of similar quality called "Hypnotize Me". The set then moves into some minimal/tribal beats and finally into the throws of a beautiful vocal that sounds eerily similar to Polaroid's "So Damn Beautiful" (think Dave Seaman). This final track track is smooth and lush and ends the set perfectly with some dissipating vocals.

I was introduced to N-tchbl via Frisky Radio early last year and ended up buying a monthly subscription to the station which enabled me to download each and every N-tchbl set. While the July 2011 set is my favorite, the December 2011 set by N-tchbl is a close second.

Have a listen yourself to the July 2011 Frisky Radio set yourself:

N-tchbl - Frisky Radio (July 2011)