That title may sound a lil off putting but please don’t be. The Isreali duo have been doing a bunch of live shows of late taking in a few European cities and the US.  I’m still to have the pleasure of catching them do their ting but they’ve started recording shows and have placed 2 of the shows online, and in the vein of their Magic Mountain High project with Move D, they be going down the improvised route.

First up is their recording from Fuse in Brussels followed by a fairly ludircrous set recorded in Bucharest.

Also last week a promo of their upcoming release on Golf Channel Recordings arrived on my doorstep.  The bizarrely yet amusingly titled Jewsex sees the Jujus at their most full on yet. With a name like that it really couldn’t have been anything else.  Euphoric italo-esque synths collide with a rolling 80′s beat and pulsating bass, building and building throughout.  Never ones to play it straight they add an extra, deeper layer as it rises and while the first half of the song doesn’t let up until it finally implodes from the drama the second half  gives centre stage to that 2nd, more wistful layer of keys, taking it through to a  more composed finale.  Even when making music aimed squarely at the dancefloor they manage to surprise; giving you  the best opener and closer of a set in one track.  While they are often lauded for their unique and, lets face it, sometimes challenging productions they are just as good when they go straight for the jugular and I’m digging this as much as anything they’ve done.  The b-side offers a more stripped down Clubsex version that features the most slap-in-the-face hi-hat this side of  a Big Strick cut while we find ourselves in more typical Jujus territory with a dubbed out B2 version. Recommended. Highly.

Time to change things up for the next Apartment release. After 2 house 12″‘s it’s the turn of Irish/Italian, em, house producer Lerosa to deliver the goods, this time on an electro tip. Bar the tape release on Further and his first 12″ on D1 many years ago, not much of Lerosa’s electro has seen the light of day (and there is quite a bit of it) so we figured it was time to get more of this shit on wax. Test pressings are in the bag and sounding great so we should be hitting a release sometime in April. I’ll have more info as it happens on where you’ll be able to grab it when it drops – incl. myself selling some cheaper pre-release 12″s  and all that promo jazz. For now check out the samples below. Finally, thanks again to all who dug the Tr One and NCW releases, what lil expectations we’ve had have been matched and easily surpassed…

Apartment [two] Lerosa – No Mad Rush

12 inch vinyl only

More info to follow soon…

This weekend sees the rest of the world pretend to be Irish while we just act the same as we do every other weekend with the added bonus of having the Monday off. That means, of course, that it’s St Patrick’s Day, which falls on the Saturday. It usually means it’s a fairly hectic weekend for gig action around the country but things are a lil quiet this year. With the exception of Moodymann on  Sunday the 18th in Dublin there isn’t a whole lot going on, unless you count producer has-been and dj never-was Joey Beltram on Paddy’s eve. For those out west in Galway City myself and Ger Z will be providing the disco and house bizness in the Beirhaus on the Sunday which is free in. Neither of us  can lay claim to having the charisma or back catalogue of Kenny Dixon Jr but we can mix records better, so pop in if yer knocking about…

Unknown Artist – Planetary

For future referencing there probably isn’t a worse time to talk about the details of music than after a few drinks and spliff in a club. Somewhere buried in my brain is more information on the latest release from Future Times given to me by Beautiful Swimmer’s Max, during his recent trip to Dublin. ‘Cause yer gonna get nothing from the vinyl which is a one-sided white label with no plans for a full follow up release. They’ve chosen to keep the artist secret and there is no real clues in the production to who it would be either. I believe it’s an extended edit of an Italian house track with maybe something else added to it, my memory is vague (and could be completely fooling me).

Stylistically it’s a bit of a side step for Future Times but is still imbued with their sense of fun and party and if you’ve seen the Swimmers dj it isn’t really that surprising of a release as the guys tend to drop a bunch of pop-house cuts. Also they offer some other edits on their website. It’s got a strong 90s feel to it and is also a lil bit reminiscent of those uplifting Happy Records cuts from way back when, carried along by , er, pumping kicks and claps with winding keys leading off the cut before a crisp bass eventually drops and bright strings hang around in the background. It may not appeal to those who prefer their house a bit deeper and moodier and the vocoder’d message that “this is from another planet, have no fear, we are your friends” could be a divider but it’s insousciant mood is a cool contrast to so much plodding deep house that is flooding the airwaves in 2012. If you’re already a fan of Future Times and their artists you should be able to find room for it in your bag, but I wouldn’t sleep, it’s a pretty limited release…

Automatic Tasty – Strange Terrain / Fieldwork

Just over 18 months ago one of my favourite tracks from the last few years, “I Can See Your House From Here” by Wicklow bumpkin Automatic Tasty appeared on his debut Ep for Dublin’s Lunar Disko. His follow up  for the label also works as the landmark 10th release  as he returns here on 2 seperate releases; the 12″ Strange Terrain and 10″ Fieldwork.

Listening to Tasty’s work it’s not much of a surprise to learn that this is not a man who busys himself with city life as there is often an etheral near folksy bent to some of his music. It also comes as no surprise that this will also lead to comparisons to that most famous of techno bog-hoppers, Aphex Twin.  When Richard D James was at his most wistful and tuneful he would also evoke images of long summer evenings and care-free, if psychadelic, country living, not an image one often associates with such supposedly modern and urban music. This can be a double-edged sword for Tasty, as on the Strange Terrain opener Beannach Mor (following the hilarious and self depreciating skit, Keep Your Reciept) he veers that too close to coming off as Afx-lite.  Over The Hill on the other hand sees him melding those colourful melodic twists and turns with his own hi-octane drums and 101 bass, with a thrilling main hook bringing the 12″ fully to life.

Tropic Exchange on the B-side is the high-light of the double release, another energetic, psychedelic clump of acid house. What underlines a lot of Tasty’s work is his songwriting craftsmanship. His best work often manages to work well as both stand along songs and rush-inducing dancefloor killers that a smart dj can utilise pretty easily. A lot of my favourite music often lands itself in that contradictory position of being both uplifting yet melancholic, and Tropic Exchange gets this spot on.

The Field Work 10″ is a small concept peice which is firmly stamped with the authors love of slow paced country living while once again seeing Afx as it’s most inspiring light. He wins the battle of stamping his own trademark over the notable James influences on this quietly unique Ep which invites the listener to sit back and put their feet up. After so many years of James’ complex and sometimes punishing rhythmic forms being the inspiritation for so many producers it’s also a nice turn to see that authors unique approach to euphony being the catapult for someone’s work. The four tracks work as morning/day/evening/night compositions, though don’t expect that cometh night time, cometh the dance, with In the Day being the most upbeat of the 4. They are for the most part, gentle, quirky electronica.

Timeline – Greystone Ballroom / Mark Flash – King of Light

While one can’t say that they ever really went away, there is a sense in certain quarters (those that sat up and took notice) that these latest 12″‘s have been somewhat of  a return for the aging kingpins of Detroit techno.  This is the first UR wax I’ve purchased since 2007′s Hi-tech Dreams, which considering they are still my most treasured label ever, shows that even a devoted fan as myself can’t deny the fact that much of their output has been lacking lately. They can be commended for avoiding re-treading old ground, but that isn’t enough if the quality simply isn’t there. Even those single disc re-issues of old double-packs last year were misjudged, imo, and Clone got in ahead of them with Drexciya re-issues at a time when Stinson’s stock has been as high as ever…

My pick of the two is the new Timeline which is firmly rooted in that notion of Hi-tech Jazz that UR have pushed since the 90s. Actually this has stripped back the “hi-tech” element more so than other times with heavy doses of live instrumentation sitting side by side with the electronics. The A side cuts are pretty great with the opening Save The Bluebird kicking things off in a deep techno style, possibly the most electronic sounding of the 4 cuts, it gently builds up with quirky stabs of synths and piano and a rising string line before breaking off into a slightest bit of brass. It’s unassuming in it’s deepness but the best UR track I’ve heard in at least 5 years.

The A2, Lottie The Body ramps up the funk and is a killer cut for mixing with, carried for the most part by a funky drum work out and some cool brass/vocal snapshots to grab the floors attention. The nearly-too-noodly jazzy breaks in it didn’t bother me at all even though it’s not something I’d usually go for, but it’s groove is undeniable. The B-side of the 12 brings down the energy again into similar territory of Save The Bluebird, but the cuts either suffer from being a tad too simplistic at times to venturing into that too cheesy side of jazz for my liking. It’s not a CLASSIC 12, but I’m still quite the fan. And the city of Detroit is rarely far away from the soul of the output of UR and the whole package is a pretty neat tribute to the older Jazz community of the city.

Mark Flash’s King of Light again sees UR marking their territory, delivering 3 brash techno numbers, the type of expansive string laden techno that was one of their calling cards at the end of the 90s. I think it is the fact that they have returned to 2 styles for which they became so well known that makes these releases seem like a “Look, we’re still here” statement of intent even though the label never actually stopped releasing music. I’m not as big a fan of this 12. Within the 3 tracks there is one amazing cut, but while each has it’s merits none of them quite hit the spot. Dark Symphony comes close with its intense, stirring violin-esque pads  but sadly it doesn’t do anything else. I’m a fan of the minimal approach to techno as anyone but this is screaming out for some of the dynamics Flash works on the title track, itself let down by the somewhat predictable melodic progressions. I know one or two people who are bigger fans of this than myself and in general these 2 releases have seen folk talking about UR again so I’m hoping this will see a new phase coming after what seemed to be at least 5 years of waywardness.

GB – Seven in Twenty Four / Dogon

My first introduction to the music of Gabriel Whittaker was when I was asked to warm up for him back in 2010 when he made his debut gig(s) in Ireland.  Since then – and slightly previous to that  - he has, with little or no fanfare, put out a stream of consistently excellent releases, be it as GB, The Abstract Eye or the other couple of aliases he uses from time to time. His sound has got a real musky analogue warmth to it, his machines also imbeding the music with a jagged rawness, creating a captivating and quite unique feel. His latest comes on Dublin imprint All City and is on an electro tip, opening with Seven in Twenty Four; a simplistic yet captivating slice of post Drexciya funk that unlike a lot of other Stinson/Donald inspired electro it’s more a nod to the duo’s work in an aesthetic way, less so musically. It’s hook is barely noticeable on first listen but becomes more engrossing on repeat listens. The Drexciya referencing is a bit more obvious on Dogon, a speedy electro jam that once again contains a minimal musical hook that rushes along above some tense snares. Also, if you missed out on his The Provider 12″ that came out at the end of last year I’d also recommend you look it up.Electro-boogie influences are more of a reference point but once again it never gets in the way of him stamping his own identity on the music. This guy has got a damn bright future ahead of him.

Versalife – Night Time Activities Pt.3

A lot of fuss was made over Borris Bunnik’s Conforce monikor last year but you may or may not have noticed that none of it was on here and that’s because we don’t think it’s worthy of the hype. At all. On the other hand, I’ve been quite into his Versalife work and while, in a similar manner to Conforce, it is hardly groundbreaking it’s just much more well-rounded and captivating. Part 3 continues in the same vein as the previous releases; stark and moody electro, kicking off in cinematic style with After The Future before the waves of sci-fi synths and sinewy bass are driven by a 4/4 kick on Electrostatic Discharge.

Ultimatum returns to more restrained territory in terms of pace but goes in a slightly heavier direction, keeping the release in maybe more head-music territory. Electro like this tends to be over looked from time to time due to it’s lack of direct floor moving ability but the kick that drops at 3 minutes on Ultimatum should get the more discerning dancers moving. Gladly the sheer quality of this series has meant that it ain’t gone ignored – does no harm having a behemoth like Clone pushing you  or you being a bit of a techno darling for much of the electronic music press. Anyways, the whole thing closes on it’s strongest number, Unsolved Mysteries. Fittingly titled, he adds a brilliant bass hook that warps in and out over  his usual expansive synth lines and crisp programming with enticing and eerie keys rounding it off as it comes to a close.  On a side note, the latest Hardfloor remix 12″ comes with 2 Versalife work outs, adding in their trademark acid to his pallete. The Pip Williams remix on the flip is the standout version though. Over the last few years Hardfloor have done a sterling job in recruiting various artists to re-work thier shit into stand up electro jams, which has been a pretty pleasant and unexpected surprise. I felt that with the likes of Instra:mental looking towards electro as inspiration over the last 18 months that there would be somewhat of a resurgence in it’s popularity, especially with younger folk. I’m not sure if that has really happened, but I’m back digging the electro these days, and we’ll see a bit more of it on here with some other upcoming releases worthy of note.

Considering January is seen as a quiet month for music I’ve still managed to pick up a nice bit of wax over the last few weeks. Some are fresh on the racks, some are yet to hit ‘em and there’s one or two things from last year I’m just catching up on properly, so gonna dip into them over the next few posts…

Magnetic Souls – Lovin’ on the Run

This upcoming 12″ from the Atlanta based Rotating Souls imprint is a lil bit scant on info so far, bar that it comes from Magnetic Soul, again an act I know little about (who ever said we were clued in nerds on this site eh?). It starts with a massive blast of funk on the A cut which builds itself around some stonking 70′s brass, a couple of sultry vocal samples and a proper groove that makes the whole thing sound like it was transported directly from back when. Working in a not dissimilar fashion to an edit this is a sweaty bit of funk. It gets a bit more lowslung on the B side cuts which again utilise some old funk vocals, combined with killer boogie bass-lines and more wonderfully catchy samples. Like the first Rotating Souls 12″ from East Liberty Quarters (I missed the 2nd) everything is unashamedly retro in style but things seem less forced than a lot of nu-disco or modern boogie that insists on uncomfortably shoehorning (sometimes, not always, of course) new styles in. The B2 has a brilliantly subtle cut n paste style to it especially, with a couple of unexpected surprises.

Chris Gray/Moonchildren – Go Away

Gray is someone I only came across last year when a mate pointed in my the direction of his Tried To Be Good album that came out quite some time ago, like everything else he’s done; this is his first release in many years. As this 12″ is on Downbeat you know it’s going to be deeeeep and as ever the quality is second to none. Downbeat has a knack of selecting the most ethereal of house cuts and this is no different. Gray eschews some of the more typical deep house sounds that are boring the shit out of everyone these days, bar the traditional square bass sounds utilised on Go Away and the barmily titled It Was The Fried Chicken That Saved Our Sanity (Because The Ghetto Is Sad). But instead of this leading the tracks it takes 2nd place to the most delicate of melodic intonations and slightly off kilter percussion. Fried Chicken, for all its laid backness manages to create some superb tensions with its synth lines. The quality slightly dips on the closing Sun Of God but it’s still another fine early morning jam. For those looking for deep house with a bit of a difference, look no further.

Pittsburgh Track Authority – Untitled/Monongahela Rainforest

This is the latest release from our own Pipecock’s techno/house 3-way with fellow P-burgers Adam Ratana and Preslov Lefterov;  arriving on their own new Pittsburgh Tracks  imprint (this release is brimming with mindblowing titling) which I gave a brief mention to in my end of year round up, but which is only fully dropping at the moment. It kicks off with Untitled which is their biggest dancefloor cut to date. It comes on like a slightly updated UR/Gerald Mitchell cut, the soaring strings especially are hugely in-debt to those masters of melodic Detroit techno. While this is a style that has often been copied over the last ten years – especially in the earlier part of the last decade – the guys have the sense to not over do it on the instrumentation – a problem so many have with this type of music, insisting on making it way too busy – and what gives it it’s own character is the excellent drumprogramming/bass/percussion.   The flip serves up the much more relaxed Monongahela Rainforest (from no name songs to  near unpronounceable, fair play), which on the face of it is maybe a little too chilled for it’s own good but the engrossing sub on it opens it up impressively and while it may lack the hooks of Untitled or, say, the enticing oddness of Chris Gray’s 12″ it still manages to steer clear of a lot of deep cliches too.

Lost Trax / Connection Machine – Lost Connection

The Scots-founded Tabernacle Records are not ones to rest on the laurels at any time and following quickly in the footsteps of this rather ace The Third Man 12″ from late last year comes the 2nd part of their collaboration with Lost Trax and The Connection Machine, the initial fruits of which were this split mini-album from last year. Lost Trax kicks this one off with some top shelf  electro on 801 with a gnarly bass that leads over crisp hi-hats and a deep, wistful synth line. Dominion is a more hectic, face-paced electro jam, full of intricate programming which dips in and out at times, adding more drama as it goes.

On the flip The Connection Machine goes down a slightly more abstract route and as fun as the Lost Trax material is, is the real show stealer of the release. Klute is a brilliant oppressive slab of electronica, its droning synths and sparse beats creating an eerie, unsettling atmosphere. The release closes on it’s high point, After. It starts off on a lighter if melancholic note, and gently trips along before another heaving synth drops out of nowhere, giving the song a nicely dramatic twist.  The track then steps up a gear with some twisted, efx laden (well, what sounds like) vocals, and a great balancing act is played between the opening musical assonances and the darker elements it picks up along the way. A pretty special piece of music drenched in emotion.

Just a quick heads up to say that Drum Dance is hitting stores over the next couple of weeks.  Juno, rubadub, decks.de amongst others are selling it already in Europe while Rush Hour and Clone amongst others are taking orders now.  Crosstalk International are distributing it on the other side of the Atlantic, so hopefully it will be hitting the likes of Gramaphone in Chicago in the next while.

For any of those out east, Jetset, Underground Gallery and Lighthouse Records are stocking it (or upcoming) in Japan and over the next while it should be hitting many other stores, pre-orders from the distro have been pretty healthy! And if you still like to shop local in real shops,  give them a shout for an order.

This Saturday, the 28th, Tr One will be celebrating the release with a gig out in Galway at The Bierhaus, one of the city’s finest drinking establishments, so if yer out the west of Ireland, be sure to drop in. Friday night sees former ISM guest mixer Paudi Ahern playing in the same venue, so it’s shaping up to be a fun weekend.

We’re also doing our first label party in February in Twisted Pepper’s basement, Dublin, with Tr One djing and Lerosa playing live. And, yes, you can gather from that that Lerosa will be the next artist to feature on the label, but not quite as you expect. More info coming very soon on all that…

Thanks for all the support so far too, be it from bloggers, djs, everyone…

Can’t really think of a better way to start the new year with the announcement that the 2nd 12″ on Apartment will be dropping at the end of the month. Regular readers should be familiar with Tr One at this stage, who’ve contributed a bunch of guest mixes for us in the past as well as releasing a few great 12″‘s over the last few years. As per the last release I’m gonna pass on any superflous promo blurbs on here, suffice to say we are pretty excited about this! Along with the original, John Heckle delivers his stompin’ debut remix effort and the Jujus gave us a proper dub version to round things off…

Check out the samples below…

Also, here’s a video clip of the guys performing Drum Dance live in Dublin in November ’11

Apartment [one] TR One – Drum Dance

12″ vinyl only.

More info to follow soon…

Since I am feeling very agitated by damn near every year-end list I’ve seen so far (with Little White Earbuds’ top tracks of 2011 list being by far the least offensive!), and my lack of RA contributions this year meaning I didn’t have to compile a list for them (giving me an easy copy and paste way out), I decided to do up a proper list with plenty of YouTube lynx and a few words about each release. I’m going to just pick my favorite tracks, but in the descriptions I will note if the entire EP, LP, or compilation is worth checking out as well. I will also mention other notable releases by said artists or on said label, as the case may be, when applicable. So basically, this is just a starting list for discovering a vast amount of the wonderful music I spent my 2011 listening to.

Also to make things easier on myself, I am not ranking any of the dope music I had a hand in releasing this year, be it from Noleian Reusse, TM Eye, Hidden Twin, or Pittsburgh Track Authority. It’s been a great year for me in this regard as well, rating my babies would be impossible. Suffice to say I love all of these releases deeply!

Okay, moving on to the actual list… I just picked the best tracks from going through my memory and looking through my discogs collection for releases marked 2011, so it is entirely possible I have somehow forgotten something awesome. I don’t really listen to new music just to listen to new music, so this was all sprinkled in there with everything else I was listening to (be it older things I just picked up, or stuff from deep in my collection). So basically I am apologizing in advance if I forgot your awesome joint! Also, there are a couple records I didn’t get yet that would most likely have made the list if i had them already.

One more thing: while these are ranked, the most interesting thing to me about this year is exactly how close all these really are to each other in terms of quality. There isn’t much drop off, it really came down to almost arbitrarily choosing a position for each record. This is a very personal list, having to do with how I listened to them and how I deejayed with them. So don’t worry about the ranking, just dive right in…

47. Weekend Express “Going to Chicago” Stilove4music

I got a huge stack of records when I was in Chicago back in June, including a bunch of the recently released Stilove4music and Still Music catalogs. When I was playing records on Sunday nite at Danny’s, I started reaching for records I hadn’t really heard yet and threw them in the mix. This one was one of them, and though I was already in Chicago, it still all made sense. Not sure exactly what’s going on here, I hear samples of Jackie Moore’s “This Time Baby” but I don’t think this is a straight edit of it.

46. Adele “Rolling in the Deep (Jamie XX Shuffle)” XL

Really, this one should be WAYYYYY up on this list. I picked it up in the late winter/early spring, before the track really took off on pop radio here. I beat this shit ruthlessly into the ground at the PTA nights at Eclipse, it always got a good reaction. 8+ months later, while I kinda hope I never hear the original ever again, this one still gets me going when I push myself to listen to it.

45. Tang “Bass Synergy” Emphasis

Steven Tang is someone we’ve been watching closely here at ISM for a while, you may remember his awesome mix for us a little while back. This one is a tough melodic techno jam, perfect for stepping the BPM’s and energy back up after sleepytime techno seemed to have taken completely over for a while. On the B side “Syncronism” is a bit deeper and more melodic, and also hits all the right notes.

44. Nebraska “The Cruives” Rush Hour

In lieu of the dope, coherent EPs like he dropped in recent years, 2011 saw Nebraska break us off with his second full-length. I can’t say that I am surprised that it is just as dope as all his previous music. Taking samples of soul, funk, and disco, and adding filters, drum machines, synths, and electric pianos to them, Nebraska records have a warm feeling that many wish they could emulate. This one was the highlight for me, though really the entire album is wonderful!

43. Dijkhuis “Underground Persistence” Night Gallery

It’s given away by the title, but it doesn’t matter: this record owes its ass to Underground Resistance. Taking the characteristic uplifting synths that UR does so well and dropping them over a broken house beat may not be rocket science, but it is a formula that very few can pull off convincingly. Dijkhuis definitely has the melodic sensibility and arrangement skills to make this one really stand out.

42. Marcos Cabral “Freckles” LIES

The first of the LIES records to make my list. Many could have been here, but this one stood out to me so here it goes. A sweet mix of deep, old school analog house and modern sensibility. Read my profile on LIES again if you need to, but understand that you should be checking out every release on this label! One of the most exciting developments for US dance music in 2011.

41. Levon Vincent “Pivotal Moments in Life” Novel Sound

I have to admit, Levon Vincent’s records have generally not appealed to me. It’s not that they’re bad in any way, but for whatever reason they fail to grab me the way they seem to for most people. That all changed with this one. All three cuts are beautiful and distinctive, but this one and its late peak really does everything I could ask for in 2011 deepness. A very special tune.

40. Willie Burns “Waste Your Time” Creme

This year was definitely the year of old school house throwbacks. Way too many of these centered on sounding like mid-80s Mr. Fingers. Willie Burns, an alias of Speculator, kept things interesting by going for the feeling of late 80s and early 90s house music in general instead of aping one sound. Both this and the EP he did for LIES come off sounding like Nu Groove releases, which can never be a bad thing!

39. Scott Ferguson “Forever In Your Debt” Ferrispark

I am definitely a sucked for those deeeeeep jams buried in the B2 position on a record. The two mixes of “Sweet to You” call to mind old KDJ records, but “Forever in Your Debt” is the cut where Scott kills it with his own sound. Soulful and melodic, a perfect late-nite Detroit groove!

38. Tevo Howard “Arena” Tevo Howard Recordings

Tevo has been another favorite of ISM for a while, though there was a sameness pervading many of his records that made it not essential to own them all. The debut on his new Tevo Howard Recordings, however, IS an essential jam. With four tracks with great melodies and different vibes, this is the kind of record that rarely leaves my box. “Arena” happens to be the one that I dropped the most, so here it is.

37. Escort “Chamèleon Chameleon” Escort

Escort have been putting out banging records going back as far as 2006. Their previous work took up the reins of 80s disco styles that had long since stopped existing, but with their new jams (on the new album which also compiles their older 12″ tracks) they have begun mining one of my personal favorite disco sounds: August Darnell’s Kid Creole and the Coconuts-esque big band tropicalia. August Darnell is one of the least copied disco artists simply because his music took great skill to write, arrange, and play. Escort has those chops and then some, adding their own twist to the equation and creating some of the most catchy dance music of recent years.

36. Norm Talley “Pulsate” Thema

Norm is generally known for his slow, deeper than deep house music. Detroit is of course techno city, and on “Pulsate” Norm takes his usual sound palette and makes it tougher and more driving, better suited for spaced out techno sets than late nite house sessions. It ain’t rocket surgery, just a funky ass banging dance record.

35. Rick Wilhite Feat. Billy Love “In The Rain” Still Music

Rick Wilhite’s “Analog Aquarium” album seems to be one of the most slept-on LPs of 2011 based on the fact that basically no one is including it in their year-end lists. For fans of soulful and deep house, it didn’t get better than this in the past 12 months! Running from sample based jams to minimal techno, Rick keeps it interesting and diverse, a tough thing for most dance producers to do over a whole album. The way he treats vocals, especially the improvised-feeling crooning of Billy Love, is probably the most distinctive aspect of this record. This one in particular is so lo-fi and grimey it is almost disgusting. In the best possible way, of course!

34. East Liberty Quarters “Streetlights” ELQ

ELQ are my Pittsburgh homeboys, but with deep boogie jams like “Streetlights”, I would be repping them hardcore no matter where they were from. With many modern boogie artists opting for the heavily compressed (and nauseating) feel, it’s refeshing to hear cats obsessed with making funky memorable music. Out of all the jams they released this year, “Streetlights” is my personal favorite, but any of the cuts on this 7″ or their East Liberty Quarters EP on Rotating Souls could have easily been on this list.

33. Floating Points “Myrtle Avenue” Eglo

Floating Points had a pretty great year in 2011, with his remix for Daedelus and his track “Marilyn” standing out the most, and the late release of the Shadows EP was the highlight of it. “Myrtle Avenue” leads things off, signaling the deepest of all Floating Points jams to come out thus far. This is just wonderful music to listen to any time, but it still has sick bumping grooves to keep it relevant for those deep dancefloors. Ending things on this note makes me really excited to see what he has in store for 2012.

32. Andres “Outta This Earth” Mahogani Andres might be my favorite producer from Detroit, and if you know me, you know exactly how much a statement like that means. On this vinyl release which seems to be at least part of what will be his III album, all four cuts are sick soulful sample based music like you expect. “Outta This Earth” is the dark, cinematic feeling hiphop joint, a standout track in his whole catalog regardless of tempo. Mahogani also dropped the extremely slept on Joy of Sound Productions “Image Fades Away” which touches on that vocal side of Detroit house music.

31. Aybee “11:11″ Deepblak

Aybee is another cat who had a great year in 2011. Relaunching his Deepblak label as a vinyl imprint with the “11:11″ EP, putting out ill music by Afrikan Sciences, Damon Bell, and Prof Delacroix, as well as dropping a sick downtempo EP as o1o for Further Records kept him busy. The title track on 11:11 is what deep tribal techno would sound like if all those terms hadn’t been rendered meaningless by jokers abusing them, and is a sweet hypnotic dancefloor jam.

30. Ron Trent featuring Leroy Burgess “Tell Me” Future Vision

With all the love mid-90s Chicago deep house has been getting recently, I find the lack of hype for Ron Trent’s new material to be rather interesting. Sure, he likes to do 10 minute plus deep synth and drum workouts. Isn’t that what people dig these days anyway?! For me, Ron is one of the masters of mixing organic and synthetic sounds into a cohesive whole. On “Tell Me”, he enlists the great disco soul vocalist Leroy Burgess to help him out, and the results are one of the highlights of the year. Feeling more free form than adhering to a tight song structure, this is futuristic African-American dance music done real right.

29. BMG & Sal P “Credit Card” Interdimensional Transmissions

BMG hooks up with Sal Principato of Liquid Liquid fame for a quirky funk track. Surely this would have been front page news a few years ago when that kind of thing was a little more “hip”, but in 2011 this is still just as useful for those deejays who like to play disco, funk, house, electro, and techno in their sets. For fans of Talking Heads and other early 80s new wave type shit!

28. Recloose “Tecumseh” Rush Hour

This one most certainly did NOT have me at “hello”. In fact, the wigged out synth that dominates the track had me thinking at first that Recloose had lost his mind. Once the vocals and the pads come in, though, you can feel those sweet vibes that are instantly recognizable as Recloose! The EP is rounded out with the shuffled soul of “Electric Sunshine” and the extra funky “Parquet”, giving you a trio of dancefloor gems in differing styles and energy levels. Another one that won’t be leaving the box any time soon!

27. Dego “Love & Hate You” 2000 Black

Dego has been doing ill music for so long, I guess it is easy for some to overlook him at times when his sound is not part of the current trend. I am always on the lookout for the hot shit, so I’m not gonna sleep on him! On this one, he takes what begins as a boogie inspired dancefloor cut and cuts the tempo in half, turning it into a neo-soul jam with a twisted bassline. He does it so effortlessly that it seems as though the song couldn’t have possibly evolved in any other way. The catchy vocal hooks don’t hurt things either!

26. Alexander Robotnick “Problemes D’Amour (Kenny Dixon Jr Mix)” NDATL

I know a bunch of people who feel like the classic “Problems D’Amour” didn’t need to be edited. In most circumstances, this is exactly my line of thinking as well. Why mess with something so perfect?! KDJ is the kind of guy who takes pleasure in proving people like me wrong. The first time I heard this one was way back in 2003 when Kenny dropped it during the 3 Chairs’ ridiculously awesome set. Having no idea at the time what mix it was, I was kept guessing at who might have been behind it. All KDJ did was keep the guitar and synth parts and a bit of the “ah ou ah”, and dubbed things out. Simple, effective, and deadly, especially on the little repetitive edits. NDATL was strong as usual with every release in 2011, but special props must be given to the Assorted Elements EP which features a sick 303 jam from Larry Heard alongside bangers from Theo Parrish and Kai Alce himself.

25. Teengirl Fantasy “Cheaters (Beautiful Swimmers’ Shoulda Known Remix)” Hivern Disc

The Beautiful Swimmers were on fire this year, with this remix dropping right around the time they played one of the most killer deejay sets of 2011 in Pittsburgh. They like to keep things weird and balearic, so they reduced the straightforward vocal house jam into a mid-tempo drums and synth dub workout. Truly odd and captivating in equal amounts. The original and John Talabot’s anthemic remix make this an essential EP! Also of note is the Future Times label, owned in part by Andrew from Beautiful Swimmers, which dropped other killers like Protect-U’s “World Music” and the ESSENTIAL Vibe 2 compilation. Another imprint that blew it up, and that I have high hopes for in 2012.

24. Oktored “How Many Moons” Yosucka

Billed as “moombahton” or “bass music”, to me this is just some slow-ass techno like an old Theo Parrish or Recloose jam. It’s by a new producer from Detroit, and on a new label run by Brian Gillespie. This shit is superfunky synthed out wild shit, and really if you pitch it up it can be fact enough to almost sound like a broken beat track. 909 and Juno 106 definitely didn’t sound this fresh too often in 2011!

23. Fred P “Come This Far (Fred P Reshape)” Soul People Music

This one starts off so simply, just a little drum loop that grooves along slightly restlessly. Soon, sounds begin to emerge from the ether, slowly become louder and louder until the strings start to come in. THE STRINGS. It might take almost six minutes for them to finally reveal themselves fully, but this tune is all about the strings. Dramatic and melancholy, the twinkling piano adds the final touch that cements this one as a future deep house classic. Only for those without ADD, this is best experienced in its full 11 minutes!

22. Scott Grooves “Crash” White Label of the Month

Scott Grooves’ “White Label of the Month” series lasted all of two months, but they were both very dope records. Out of them all, his ode to his “preference for Vinyl” is the best. Riding a simple groove, and featuring just a few chords, this is the kind of old-school 90s house music jam that so many attempted in 2011 but so very few achieved. This one would be a simple killer any time!

21. Specter “Pipe Bomb” Sound Signature

Theo Parrish’s Sound Signature label doesn’t necessarily seem like the right place for a grinding techno jam at first glance. But when you think about releases like “1987″ and Leron Carson’s recent album, and you know that Specter is a vinyl head from Chicago, it all starts to make sense. This is one that is meant to be beaten to death in a set: tracky, minimal, and nasty.

20. José Larralde “Quimey Neuquén (Chancha Vía Circuito Remix)” ZZK

This actually came out in 2010, but I didn’t hear it until I picked up the CD which came out this year in advance of Chancha Via Circuito’s performance here in Pittsburgh. What I found on that CD reminded me of Basic Channel if they had also been obsessed with South American folk music. This one track in particular was truly beautiful, and was well loved by basically every person I played it for. This joint defined my late spring, along with the whole album. Also, Chancha’s remix for Peabody & Sherman was a particularly ill half-time dub jam that can be worked into the deepest of house sets.

19. Big Strick “Maybe 1 Day” 7 Days Entertainment

One of the most elusive elements of classic house and techno (and one that seems to be particularly difficult for a lot of modern producers to mimic) is its simplicity. There really doesn’t have to be a lot going on to be effective, in fact the less elements the better as far as I’m concerned. Big Strick has the experience that allows him to reduce his tunes to a tiny amount of elements and still be captivating. His releases on Fxhe stuck to this formula, but his newer joints on his own 7 Days Entertainment seem to really nail it. “Maybe 1 Day” is the one I prefer, but the entire EP keeps it simple and hypnotic. His newly released “Timeless” EP doesn’t stray from the formula, and is also all the better for it.

18. Disco Nihilist “Coffee and a Worn Paperback” Running Back

This one is a tune I had been waiting a hot minute for it to come out. A favorite of mine since the day Disco Nihilist sent me the mp3, it is another very simple track. Four chords sketch out a melancholy harmony, while jacking drums keep it rhythmically driven. There really isn’t much to be said about this music, you just have to listen to it and let it work on you. Consistently making music as minimal and moving is quite an achievement, props to the Disco Nihilist for keeping it really real.

17. Marcellus Pittman “On A Beautiful” Lifetime Groove

This seems to have been Marcellus’ less popular release this year, with his EP on Seventh Sign getting most of the love. While that one is dope in its own right, this 10″ on Lifetime Groove seems a bit more special to my ears. The A-side jam “On A Beautiful” in particular manages to incorporate the boogie music that he likes to deejay into the house sound he is known for producing in a way that I haven’t heard anyone else come close to. A slightly funked up beat and Moogish bassline serve as rhythm section to synth chords and pads that sound as if an alien band was recording a Kashif instrumental. Serious Detroit soulful house music!

16. Mr. Fingers “Finger Fuck” Rush Hour

While the Chicago house knockoff trend hit full stride this year, I was particularly interested in the release of many jams from the actual heyday of Chicago house in the 80s that had previously only existed on reel to reel. Gene Hunt’s “Chicago Dance Tracks” compilation was my favorite of the bunch, with this Mr. Fingers jam and the Craig Loftis joint “Yes I’m Right” being the highlights of the comp. Also worth noting was the massive Virgo Four box set “Resurrection”, which includes probably many more tracks than you can easily digest in a few years much less one. Good work on the same front was done by the kind folks at Kstarke Records in Chicago with their eponymous label which issued previously unavailable versions of The It’s “Donnie”, Nick Non-Stop’s “Jack My Body”, Adonis’ “No Way Back”, and Phuture’s “Acid Tracks”.

15. ncw “Veil” Apartment

This is another special release for us here at ISM as it was the debut of Kenny’s new Apartment Records label. These tracks are all rude as fuck, another trait that seemed to be in very short supply in 2011. This one has become a staple in my box due to the variety, but “Veil” got banged out the most so it gets the nod here. More simple dancefloor tracks, but twisted up just right to keep the tension rising.

14. Lerosa “In My Mind” Uzuri

Lerosa is a long-time friend of ISM, so we are always proud with each new achievement he reaches. This year saw his first vinyl album release (with his cassette release on Further from a few years back being his very first full length), and it was made even more special with his collaborations with the Olverwho Factory. “In My Mind” did it the most for me this year due to Shonie’s sweet vocals, but the whole album is filled with quality deepness.

13. Omar-S presents Colonel Abrams “Who Wrote the Rules of Love” Fxhe

Most of the talk this year was about Omar-S’ “Here’s Your Trance Now Dance”, which was definitely an anthem for me. But his lower-key move of bringing one of my favorite 80s vocalists onto a track with Amp Fiddler on keys was easily the true standout. Equal parts Omar-S rudeness and Colonel Abrams soul, this tune is absolutely gorgeous, with the Shadow Ray remix on the flip adding a little more synthetic element to the equation. Records like this and deejay sets like the one he played at the Music Institute afterparty DEMF weekend show why Omar-S is one of the true top dogs of the underground.

12. Steve Moore “Zero-Point Field” LIES

The LIES label makes its second appearance here, this time with one of the best techno records of the year. Starting with sparse synth pulses and building into a cinematic climax, this is wonderfully futuristic electronic music of the highest order. I see this one building into a cult classic over time, with slight nods to John Carpenter’s scores giving it as much home listening appeal as the driving beat gives it dancefloor appeal.

11. Kyle Hall “Down!” Wild Oats

With the tracks immediately preceding this one being all about well-crafted house and techno, this one is almost completely the opposite. This is a nasty, banging deejay tool. But it is very effective, one of those immediate party jams right up there with some of the best sample based KDJ, Rick Wilhite, Theo Parrish, and Agent X records. Raw as hell and completely unapologetic, both sides of this are Kyle Hall at his best. This year Wild Oats also dropped the debut record by my man Jay Simon, “Faith”, which should be slept on at your own peril!

10. Reggie Dokes “Haiti” Royal Oak

With so many sick tracks already mentioned, what is needed to gain entry into the top 10? In this case, it is being quite simply the most beautiful house/techno record released this year. Reggie Dokes is in ridiculous form here, sounding like I imagine Derrick May might if he were still on top of his game and producing new music. I couldn’t tell you why this hasn’t received much more attention, being on critical darling Clone’s Royal Oak sublabel, but I guess that’s why I had to write this post. This is what it is all about right here, if you play this one and people don’t dance, the crowd is either dead or they should be!

9. Ital “Culture Clubs” Lovers Rock

It’s kind of weird to pick a track that is NOT on 100% Silk to kind of represent all the goodness that came from that camp this year, but that’s how it had to be. The dance/indie crossover was chronicled earlier in the year (and very early in 100% Silk’s release schedule!) by me for the wonderful Gridface blog, and their output remained interesting at the very least throughout the entire year. But this one landed somewhere right in the middle, and it has been the one I keep going back to. Produced by Mi Ami’s Daniel Martin-McCormick, the pitch-bent chords lend a feeling of melting to a jacking house beat. Simple, weird, and dope as hell. Like early Detroit techno if you listened to it while sipping syrup.

8. John Daly “Sea Level (Aerosol Mix)” Further

It seems unfair to distill Further’s contributions to 2011 to one track. Full disclosure compels me to remind you that they released an EP by my Pittsburgh Track Authority project! But the fact is that we are humbled to be amongst the releases that included the Conrad Schnitzler Live ’72 (RIP) double LP, Nuel’s Trance Mutation LP, and this killer John Daly jam. Here, Mr. Daly builds things slowly from a drum beat up into a climax of pure techno bliss, not unlike some of Omar-S’ best Oasis tracks. This absolutely must be allowed to breathe, and when it does it takes you to another place.

7. Kevin Reynolds “Liasons” Nsyde

Kevin Reynolds has had very few releases, but each has been notable in some way. While this year’s “Favis” may have been too deep for most people, “Liasons” is definitely much more banging and dancefloor ready. Rough beats and jarring synth hits pave the way for the beautiful arpeggios that alter the mood of things quite unexpectedly. Mixing light and dark elements together like a producer who has a million records under his belt, this one might be the jam that sends Kevin into wider recognition. It will be very well deserved when it happens!

6. Jamie 3:26 “Bostich Time” Strobelight Honey

This record is one of those joints that makes the most sense in the hands of a deejay as opposed to on its own. Editing Yello’s “Bostich” into a drummed up frenzy, by the time the vocal loop drops a few times the dancers have already been going nuts and it just turns the intensity up that much higher. The flipside is a dry as fuck acid jam, another deejay tool for those that like to bang it the fuck out. Jamie’s experience as a long time deejay is quite obvious on this record as it is made to be mixed up.

5. Juju & Jordash “Avian Oasis” Downbeat Black

Juju & Jordash had a ridiculous year this year. Between “Unleash The Golem Pt 1″, “Bleached Roots”, and this joint, there was not a track that was less than stellar with their names on it. Throw in their live improvised sets with Move D under the moniker Magic Mountain High, and you have quite a serious body of work. For me though, it was this dense, dark, and moist jam that shows exactly how high a level they’re working on. Using a melodica and a train whistle to create alien dub house music seems like it must be the most natural thing to happen in their world. This sounds like nothing else.

4. Nice Rec “Not Real” Harmony Society

Nice Rec is another Pittsburgh cat, you might be familiar with him from his excellent Boogieman mixes that have been posted here on ISM. He’s also a killer producer, with this jam in particular being his best joint so far. A classic vocal jam that builds into a double time drum workout, this is a ridiculous pairing of classic soul and modern beat music. To think that something like this was made in a dude’s house in my own city makes me feel so proud. The wave of Pittsburgh music is only just now starting.

3. Ricardo Miranda “Future Foundation” Neroli

It frustrates me to no end that this is not on Youtube. Ricardo Miranda’s jam on Rick Wilhite’s Vibes comp from a few years back hipped me to what he was doing, but he really took things to another level here. Starting out with what seems to be a nice but decidedly classic sounding acid jam, suddenly the script is flipped when the beautiful piano comes in. By the time the dubbed out horn lines hit, it’s all over. Like classic acid but better and more beautiful, this tune has a magical effect that seems to hit people who hear it right in their heart. Acid as soul music.

2. Anthony “Shake” Shakir “Meets BBC” Honest Jon’s

Anthony Shake Shakir is known as one of the guys who helped invent techno music in Detroit in the 1980s. What may be less known is that he still puts out absolute killers. This remix for Honest Jon’s series of African artists (which also featured an inspired effort from Mark Ernestus) is one such killer. Party techno as pure as can be, this one starts with infectious percussion before dropping in the simple synth riff. African vocals and filtered and phased drums fill things out as much as they need be, but the track remains fairly skeletal and most importantly funky. Shake’s slept-on broken-beat-esque “Piper” is also a nice return to original material for the man. We’re looking forward to much more.

1. Storm Queen “It Goes On” Environ

It seems almost unfair for everybody else. Storm Queen took the cake last year with “Look Right Through” and they do it again this year. Morgan Geist’s production is at its most minimal and clangy, while Damon Scott’s lyrics and vocals work perfectly in tandem with it. Laying off the true hook until a few minutes in, once it drops it’s all over. I would have bet this followup wouldn’t have bettered their first jam, and I’d have been dead wrong. This is all that’s right about disco, house, and techno in 2011, and as such it gets #1.

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.