We generally tend to busy ourselves with music that appears on vinyl but that doesn’t make us totally averse to downloading music, if only when it’s given away for free by the artist who made it. I came across this cracking little release today made by John Lillis, aka mynameisJOhn, a Limerick, Ireland based dj and producer who’s been knocking round doing various bits and bobs on our shores for many a year and I thought it was worth giving our readers a heads up on it. John comes mainly from a hip hop background and the music and stylistic appoach contained within shows, even though overall it’s a bit more far reaching than that. It’s an 8 track EP, hardly anything stretches over 3 minutes but it’s got a wealth of ideas going on while never feeling overly cluttered. I won’t say anything more about it, but it won’t take up much of your time, so go on, give it a punt. All details, download etc can be found on John’s bandcamp page.

Its great to be able to give a shout out to a new South London label from some people I have a lot of respect for. A little like busses, two are coming along at the same time. Emotional Rescue and Emotional Response. I’m starting to get very excited about some of the releases coming up.

Firstly Emotional Rescue which has got the aim of unearthing and reissuing forgotten remastered gems of dance music’s past (with full artist consent it should be added). The first release is a reissue of a funky disco rock slammer which started life on a 7″ test pressing in 1973 by Bob Chance, with a synth freakout added to its relentless fuzzed out grove. the b side feratures a second later version of equal merit. This one has got some serious potential for dancefloor drama. Apparently only 10 copies exist so this full release for the first time has already caused a lot of talk from people who had assumed they’d never find a copy. It’s out now in Juno and other discerning outlets.

There’s a great Suns of Arqa 12″ coming up after that with a very welcome loud pressing of Ananta Snake Dance. Managed to pick this up a month or two back on test pressing and has been getting a lot of play since.

Also excited about this Cosmic Hoffman spaced out krautrock track.

Secondly there’s Emotional Reponse which focuses on the sounds of the present day and the future, already has some excellent releases scheduled from Grackle, Alan Hurst, Timothy J Fairplay and Ulysses.

A couple of highlights, this slow jam by Alan Hurst (aka Steve Summers) from the soundtrack to Nzambi lp:

and further cold war zombi film disco scene hits in the form of Timothy J Fairplay’s upcoming Ep

Edit: there’s a related interview regarding the labels here http://thepool-london.com/loop/soft-rocks-new-labels.html

For those of you in the Bay Area, I’ll be playing alongside Joe Rice and Matt Holland tonight in SF, at UndergroundSF in the lower Haight. Come celebrate the new year with us, and expect to hear a ton of deep cuts spanning many genres!

This Friday night in Pittsburgh, we are celebrating the forthcoming release of our new Pittsburgh Track Authority 12″ on our own new label Pittsburgh Tracks with a big party! In addition to our own performance in conjunction with synth pop group TM EYE, we have a special opening performance from Shawn Rudiman that promises to be heavy on the electro-funk tip and a DJ set from Underground Resistance’s DJ Skurge! It’s sure to be yet another hot night in Pittsburgh…

You can check out the new tunes “Untitled” and “Monongahela Rainforest” here:

There will be white labels for sale at the show, and we will sell a couple online after the show as well. Release date is sometime in January through Crosstalk Distribution. There are definitely our most dancefloor jams so far, I’m really excited to get them out into the world!

We’ve also been working on a couple new things, the first of which to be completed is a remix of Jennifer Hudson’s “Spotlight”. We sent this out to some deejays (Chicago and Detroit, what’s up?! Also ATL and others…) so you can definitely hear this one out in the wild. For right now, you have to either get your dance on in the club, or rock the YouTube video:

Our recent release on Further Records, the Archipelago EP, is also still available for purchase on vinyl only. There’s only a few left on Further’s bandcamp page, so jump all over that here. On this one, we took things in a bit of a dub/digital reggae direction. The slick cover art, green vinyl, and Dubplates and Mastering mastering job all add up quite nicely into a really nice package that works very well with the music. It is awesome to be part of the Further family!

We also had our Pittsburgh homeboy Paul Fleetwood do a mix of all Pittsburgh Track Authority tracks, ones that are already released as well as some that are not out yet. This is the only place you’ll be able to hear them for a while until they have a release! Check that out here:

Finally, we are happy to be joining a new electronic music agency that just formed out of Pittsburgh, Eighty Agency. Their other clients include Claude Young, Different World, and Shawn Rudiman as well as handling booking for Kirk Degiorgio in North and South America. We’re looking forward to bigger and better things in 2012!

Despite only being around since 2010 (and the with vast majority of their releases having been this year), L.I.E.S or Long Island Electrical Systems has established itself as one of the most interesting dance music labels out there. Putting out fast paced sci-fi techno jams next to slow sample-based deep house grooves is what LIES thrives on, and with the impending release of Professor Genius’ Hassan LP, further excursions into even more left-field territory seem to be in store.

It is clear that a love of 1980s US house music is at the root of much of what LIES do. From the second release by 2 Dogs in a Room (aka Jason Letkiewicz and label head Ron Morelli), which consists of sleazy Chicago-esque grooves, to Willie Burns’ (aka Speculator) debut release under that pseudonym, an EP full of quirky house tunes, the sound of drum boxes and vintage synths is not out of place. It might be Marcos Cabral’s EP that most perfectly describes the LIES aesthetic: hints of vintage drum machines poke through the haze of very modern sounding tracks that tread the line between house and deep techno, a perfect combination of old and new.

Legowelt’s Sark Island Acid EP is another highlight of the label. Dense, melodic synth lines do all the heavy lifting emotionally, while the banging drum tracks remind of Chicago and Detroit, but without sounding too derivative. Terekke’s Damn EP seems to be the one most desired by the Discogs crew, fetching high dollar amounts despite only just seeing release over the summer. The bass heavy, lo-fi joints work very well with the hand-stamped white-label aesthetic of the LIES “X.5″ release series they appear on.

Throw in the most recent release, a typically highed-up EP by Beautiful Swimmer Maxmillion Dunbar as well as two solo outings by Mr. Letkiewicz (one as jack-tracker Steve Summers, one as sample heavy Malvoeaux) and you have quite a varied lineup of house music on one label released in just over a year!

LIES also has the distinction of putting out my favorite techno record so far in 2011, Steve Moore’s excellent “Zero-Point Field”. The connections between LIES and Washington DC’s Future Times crew is obvious from the sharing of artists such as Mr. Moore between the labels, helping to create an interesting East Coast dance music crew. Their vibe seems to be spreading out through other labels like 100% Silk, which also has multiple releases by Jason Letkiewicz in the past year!

With so much quality and variety coming out, as well as connections to some other outstandingly interesting labels, it’s clear why LIES would be a favorite of mine. I hit Ron Morelli up with a few questions via email to get a better idea about what motivates him…

ISM: The releases on LIES have a tendency towards American dance music (even the Legowelt record is in a Chicago house vein), though not of any particular style. Are there any specific labels that are influential to your approach?

Ron Morelli: I wouldn’t say that there are any specific labels that are influential in my approach regarding how I run the label and the aesthetics of the music therein. I have cited on numerous occasions how Bunker Records and the 90s Hague squatter scene and their anti-establishment approach sonically as well as their business model or lack of had undoubtedly resonated strongly with me. All I’m doing here is putting out jams by people I know. If people are open and catch on, then cool, if they don’t that’s cool too.

ISM: How does working at A1 affect what you do? Do you tend to buy more new music, or more older music?

RM: It’s 70/30 down the line. Kinda always has been. There’s so much old music out there to be discovered still, but it would be ignorant to not keep up with new projects coming out. I’m a fan, I wanna know what’s out there and check it out regardless. There’s a lot of new stuff out there good and bad, gotta check it always.

ISM: Many of the artists on LIES are known more for live performances as opposed to simply deejaying, how does that tie into the music you choose to release?

RM: I think that has really been strictly by chance. Although, somehow through the years it seems to me like producers who dj are generally not great djs and djs who produce tracks are never as good as the aforementioned. Obviously there are exceptions and this is just some baseless observation on my part which may or may not hold any truth.

ISM: On a record nerd tip, what is up with the “XXX.5″ catalog numbers for the recent white label releases? are they meant to be thought of differently from the full-blown LIES releases?

RM: This was just circumstance as I was told that records released in the summer months records don’t sell as well and blah blah blah.. Europe,vacation, partytime, industry this, that, the third. So basically I heard some tracks that were sick and thought that there was no way I’m waiting until September to put this out when it was June, so I was like fuck it I’m just gonna press this shit. So it’s kind of a monster that created itself. I’m not trying to wait around for anyone really, just keep it moving, so yeah it’s inadvertently become a label within the label.

ISM: Which artists from outside the LIES camp would you like to work with if money/era/etc were not a problem?

RM: I would commission Black Sabbath, Flower Travelin Band, Achim Reichel, and Conrad Schnitzler to compose an epic 4xlp collaboration album with Phil Spector behind the glass, gun at hand.

ISM: Name your top 5 NYC records regardless of genre:

RM:
Whodini-5 Minutes of Funk
Liquid Liquid-Cavern
Implog-Holland Tunnel Dive
EPMD-Business Never Personal
Petula Clark-Downtown

There you have it. You’ll be sure to hear more about LIES and their artists on ISM in the future!

You can check LIES out on Soundcloud here. Ron Morelli is currently on tour in the UK and Europe for the next week or so, check for dates and locations on his Facebook page here.

Hey folks, just a quick heads up for anyone around Dublin on Saturday. Detroit techno legend and ISM favourite Anthony “Shake” Shakir is in town. Support comes from ISM’s Kenny Hanlon and Pogo resident Barry Redsetta. Proper!

There’s a short interview with the man over on mntothat
http://mntothat.com/shake-interview/

And here’s a mix I made of all Shake tracks a while back to get y’all in the mood.

For the last year or so I’ve been pretty busy with working, making music and playing some live gigs around the place. Recently, my brother and I played three dates over in Ireland including Lunar Disko, of which the lads there recorded the night. There’s an hours live set of my own shit and two and half hours of solid mixing from my bro, who manages to sift through all sorts of house, disco, italo, electro and what not.

As Infinitestatemachine’s ‘low-tempo agent in the field’ I feel it’s my duty to step back up and throw some low tempo shit into the mix. I’ll be doing some reviews soon on  new material from Brian Eno, Plague Recordings and Fax and for the first time in a long while, a new ambient mix.

But for now, here’s the recordings of the Lunar Disko party from last weekend.

Meschi [Lunar Disko Records] – Live at Lunar Disko 23.09.11

The Textbook Lover’s Two and a Half Hours Mix at Lunar Disko 23/09/11

The VIA festival was a really good time last year in its initial incarnation. Pittsburgh was clearly ready for something big, and people responded to many different types of music and visual art combined over the course of the festival. The monthly events the VIA folks have done since then (including Omar-S and many more) have really helped build up the energy in the city, along with some of the other stalwart promoters in the city stepping up their games.

This year, the festival is going to be even crazier. Featuring ISM-relevent acts such as Underground Resistance live as Interstellar Fugitives, Blondes, Protect-U, Donato Dozzy, Tim Sweeney, East Liberty Quarters, Dam-Funk, and more, there honestly isn’t even anything in Pittsburgh’s history that can compare to this.

It’s crazy to think about UR playing live in my city. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them twice before, both times in Detroit, in 2004 and 2005. Each was amongst the best live electronic music shows I’ve ever seen. They rarely play live anywhere, much less in the US, so this should be an insanely special night.

It also makes me happy to see Blondes and Protect-U return, as their first appearances here at the Altered States party I do with my man Matt McDermott were amongst the wildest things I’ve seen go down here, in a tiny house party setting no less. Seeing these guys kill it on a biggest stage should be really sweet! Also, the sick video artist Aurora Halal (whom you might recognize from doing videos for Beautiful Swimmers and more) will be doing projections during both of their sets.

In a departure from the one location with many rooms approach of last year, this year a decentralized approach is being taken, with parties taking place in various locations spread across the east end of town. Some parties will be 18+, some end early, some go till very late.

While the bulk of the festivities go down from next Thursday October 6 thru Saturday October 8th, the Sunday after that (October 16th) will be a special one. The Wrap Party for VIA takes place at Shadow Lounge in East Liberty and it features Dam-Funk headlining with support by Smooth Tutors as well as debut live performances by my homies East Liberty Quarters and my group Pittsburgh Track Authority! We’ve been working and practicing to bring the tunes we’ve crafted in the studio to life in an interesting and interactive way, and I’m really looking forward to being able to bang it out!

So this promises to be a very special couple weeks for me in many ways. I will report back on how things go, but if you’re in the region, this is certainly one of the best opportunities you’ll have to check out the kind of things we’re doing here in Pittsburgh. We’ve been working hard at building shit up for a long, long time, and seeing shit like this go down makes it all worthwhile! See you on the dancefloor!

Theo Parrish’s remix of About Group’s You’re No Good is his trademark deeply layered grimey house cut, with heavy bass, jazz keys, and vocal samples shimmering in and out. It’s slow and hypnotic but still damn funky, especially when the hip hop beat drops near the end. Staying in Detroit, Andrés has just dropped Andrés III, which is another very strong mini-LP of sample house and short hip hop cuts. The opening track samples the wonderful piano line from Pharaoh Sanders’ We Gotta Have Freedom to good effect, and there’s some really nice Dilla-esque tracks on the b-side.

I’ve been following Recloose since his first EP on Planet-E back in 1998, and over the years he’s steadily developed his own distinct style of electronic music based on Detroit house and techno but with strong roots in soul, funk, disco and jazz, with liberal use of samples and often guest live instrumentation. After going all the way and touring with a full live band between 2006-2008, he seems to have gone back to a more electronic sound recently, and Saturday Night Manifesto EP is his latest offering. The opening track Electric Sunshine is the stand out for me, quirky deep summer sounds, with some great use of samples. The other tracks are more straight up dancefloor focused house/techno jams. It’s got a mixed reaction from some people I’ve talked too but in my opinion it’s one of the best new releases of the year. Keep up with Recloose over on his Hit It And Quit It blog where he posts his excellent weekly radio show from Auckland, New Zealand.

I’ve been getting into the Washington DC based Future Times label over the past year after picking up some nice releases by Beautiful Swimmers, Protect-U and Rhythm Based Lovers. Modern house music heavily influenced by cosmic disco and boogie funk is the general feel. The latest release is a limited 7″ by Beautiful Swimmers, Open Shadow. Slow, cosmic dubbed out disco yacht rock song is one possible way to describe it (badly), I guess a good comparison would be with Jonathan Jeremiah’s Happiness from last year, except a bit more dub.

I also just want to mention Tom Noble’s new(ish) reissue label Superior Elevation Records. There’s been 2 great releases so far, the first was a reissue of a rare 7″ release by Detroit’s Exit from 1982, Detroit Leaning is a slick funk rock jam, sounds more like a 70′s track with only the beat and synths giving it a more 80s boogie feel. That was followed up by an absolute monster disco funk gem, Charlie Clemons And The Might Power Band The Devil Has Made This Land His Playground. This was a very obscure indie disco project from 1980, Tom Noble was given access to the masters in order to “give it the full on Tom Moulton era disco extension” adding, “No new instrumentation has been added, simply a late 70′s disco face-lift for two previous songs which had mad potential, but weren’t fully realized.”

And keeping with the “Tom Moulton era disco” theme, Victor Rosado was in Dublin for a gig recently and kindly accepted an invitation to appear on my man Nic’s weekly radio show Box Deluxe on Power FM. They have a chat about Victor’s memories of the Loft, the Paradise Garage and Larry Levan and pick out some favourite tracks from that era.

box_deluxe with special guest: victor rosado by box_deluxe

While it’s been a slack summer for updates it is because we have actually been a bit busy with some other bizness, in my case it’s been getting the latest ISM label off the ground. After much fretting, headaches and general stress, today, fully functioning tests of the debut release on my Apartment Records imprint landed in my hands so it feels like the time is right to give a heads up.

Apartment [zero] is the work of London based NCW – the less said about him the better – and I’m not gonna give much promo spin on here, just check out the samples below. Stripped back house musaks with a quirky bent…

Apartment [Zero] by Apartment Records

I’ll have some more updates closer to the release date, and there is already plenty more in the pipeline for upcoming releases including work from artists that our regular readers will be familiar with. That’s it for now.

Coming Soon on Apartment Records…

Apartment [zero] NCW – Panther Veil

12inch only.